Diego Echevers Torrez in conversation with Javier Molina
The Cocani are the Aymara coca merchants who settled in Oruro when the city thrived on silver and tin mining. The rich Carnival traditions to which the region, its people and the mining industry gave rise thrive today. Bolivian photographer Diego Echevers Torrez has documented these traditions since 2015, creating a series of analogue portraits celebrating the Cocani’s intergenerational heritage which is very much alive, yet under threat.
Diego Echevers Torrez was born in Cochabamba in 1979. He studied architecture and anthropology and has taught anthropology at Universidad Católica Boliviana where he first used a camera in 1997 for anthropological research. He currently teaches photography at Universidad Mayor de San Simón.
Javier Molina was born in La Paz. He studied Philosophy in North America together with a three-year course in photography. Back in La Paz, he worked in the restoration department of the Museo Nacional de Arte. He worked with Jaime Saenz on the iconic book Imágenes Paceñas, lugares y personas and his work has been widely exhibited in the UK and Bolivia.
We are grateful to the Contemporary Bolivia Arts Trust and Albumen Gallery for help setting up this event.
The Anglo-Bolivian Society 