Natalia (Nika) Sorzano


Sissy-phus and the Mother Mountain
2019

This video work fictionalizes and enacts the myth of Sisyphus, using it as a metaphor to reflect on the history of LGBTIQ+ resistance in Colombia. Activists and marginalized social groups manage to reclaim and secure basic human rights through their tireless struggle, yet they remain perpetually subject to the political will and agenda of those who assume power.

Sissy-phus assumes different roles and encounters a series of characters and natural elements representing the law, politicians, the government, the State, and La Madremonte—a dissident mythological woman who opposes exploitation. By confronting these two myths—the Western narrative centered on patriarchy and the Colombian campesino narrative embodied by an eco-feminist figure—multiple discursive layers are woven together, reflecting on queer dissent, decoloniality, and disobedience as practices of resistance.

The piece incorporates fragments of historical events reported in Colombian media, alongside political statements against LGBTIQ+ communities made by politicians who have obstructed the full recognition of our rights as citizens. It also interweaves excerpts from conversations with trans activist and lawyer Diana Navarro Sanjuan (rest in peace) and feminist queer activist and academic Camila Esguerra.
Collaborators: This work was made in conversation with trans activist and lawyer (RIP) Diana Navarro Sanjuan and feminist queer activist and academic Camila Esguerra.

This work has been shown in:

Prospects and Concepts, Rotterdam, 2020
Bitácora, Bogotá, 2019

Credits:

Script – Diana Navarro Sanjuan, Camila Esguerra y Natalia (Nika) Sorzano
Music – Nika
Production, editing and directing – Natalia (Nika) Sorzano

This work was made with the support of BANFF Center for arts and creativity, CBK Rotterdam, Mondriaan Fonds (Young Talent Grant) and Ministerio de Cultura de Colombia.





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