The cultural devastation that occurred in Peru had a beginning: the start of our republic. Although looting had been known since colonial times, for the first time in the 19th century, with the arrival of “modern times,” looting became systemic, not only by wealthy landowners and greedy foreigners, but also by the population itself, who did so in some cases out of curiosity to carry out practices that families had been doing for generations, but in others for trade and, in more extreme cases, as a means of subsistence.
Setting aside tradition and possible explanations for the causes, the evidence indicates that a huge part of our ancestral history has been lost forever and, according to archaeologists, cannot be quantified.
Manuel is one of these settlers, back in 1825, 60 years before the arrival of German Juan Enrique Brüning, founder of the first museum in northern Peru, the first major “real” attempt to rescue the national heritage.
This installment is the prequel to the screenplay “Brüning y el tesoro del Reino Lambayeque” (Brüning and the Treasure of the Lambayeque Kingdom), winner of the DAFO 2023 Feature Film Development Grant, whose lessons learned, research, and scouting in northern lands served as the basis for the creation of Xlliangir, the beginning of cultural devastation.
A subject of AiaPaec, the Xlliangir, a direct ancestor of Manuel's family, has awakened after a long sleep in a time where nothing he knew still exists, and the descendants of his former kingdom, far from protecting his heritage, plunder it without remorse. The “sin” committed is unforgivable... “sin”... a Christian concept, a legacy of the defunct viceroyalty of Peru, but one that left an indelible mark on the northern population. Sister Catalina, Sergio's young sister and a descendant of the Muchiks, is the living result of this syncretism. She does not hesitate to put her faith to the test, torn between the tradition of her ancestors and the tradition of the Church. For the Xlliangir, forgetting the past is the worst sin a Muchik can commit, but he cannot punish Catalina like the others, he needs her, because they have a pact.
