Tupananchiskama: Ancient Andean Cosmovision - Exhibition Guided Tour

VLACC is delighted to collaborate once again with the Museum of Anthropology to present a special guided experience of Tupananchiskama: Ancient Andean Cosmovision.

Date: Sunday, October 4, 2026
Time: 3:00 – 4:30 pm
Location: Museum of Anthropology (MOA) (6393 NW Marine Drive, Vancouver, BC, on the UBC campus)

Free event. Donations are encouraged.

Led by guest curator and archaeologist Luis Manuel González and Indigenous Ancestral Healing Guide Paola Noriega, the afternoon will begin with a sacred Andean coca leaf offering and blessing. This ceremonial practice honours the spirits of the land, asks permission to enter into relationships, and expresses gratitude, reciprocity and protection. Calling upon the Four Directions, the blessing recognizes the ancestors and the connections between the seen and unseen worlds.

Following the blessing, Luis Manuel and Paola Noriega will guide participants through the exhibition, offering insight into the enduring worldviews of ancient Andean civilizations.

Join us for this unique opportunity to connect with the ancestral knowledge and living traditions of the Andes at MOA.

About the Exhibition

Tupananchiskama: Ancient Andean Cosmovision explores the enduring worldviews of ancient Andean civilizations through nearly 100 exquisite pre-Columbian ceramic, textile, bone and wood works, some dating back more than 2,500 years. Former UBC Professor Alan R. Sawyer collected these works and donated them to MOA. The Andes are home to some of the world’s most complex cultural traditions, and their knowledge lives on in landscapes, practices, languages, and material culture.

This exhibition highlights Andean cosmovision—a holistic and spiritual understanding of the universe grounded in reciprocity, balance, and the recognition of nature as a living being. Far more than artistic objects, the belongings on display embody relationships between humans, ancestors, and sacred forces.

Tupananchiskama is a Quechua word, an Indigenous language of the Andes. It means “until life brings us together again” and reflects an ancestral view of life and death as part of a continuous cycle. In Andean philosophy, death is not an end but a transformation. Through the belongings in this exhibition, visitors are invited to reflect on continuity, resilience, renewal, and the promise of reunion.

Guest curator: Luis Manuel González (Adjunct Professor, UBC Department of Anthropology) | Curatorial liaison: Nuno Porto (MOA Curator, Africa + South America; Associate Professor, UBC Department of Art History, Visual Art & Theory).

About the Facilitators

Paola Noriega is an Indigenous Ancestral Healing Guide and Advocate, born of Quechua, Aymara and Amazonian roots from Peru. She carries the Q’ero tradition of the Andes through ancestral teachings and ceremonial practices. Founder of AYNI Collective Healing, she weaves ancestral wisdom, Earth-based practices and modern science through private ceremonies and healing journeys for women, supporting deeper healing, transformation and reconnection with self.

Luis Manuel González is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Anthropology at The University of British Columbia. He is also a Research Associate in the Archaeology Centre at the University of Toronto. A licensed professional archaeologist and educator trained at Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru, Luis Manuel has over two decades of research experience throughout the Andes. Since 2009, he has served as director and supervisor of various projects in the Lima, Chilca, Nasca, Cajamarca, La Libertad, and Arequipa regions of Peru. His research interests include the development of complex civilizations and regional interactions in the Andes, focusing on the Early Intermediate Period (EIP) on the central coast, with the objective of determining the local interaction strategies between the Lima, Moche, Nasca and Wari societies during the EIP and Middle Horizon Period. Luis Manuel is also interested in bioarchaeology, mortuary practices, paleopathology, foodways, architecture, and archaeoastronomy.

Please note that we will photograph and film this event for internal documentation and promotional purposes. If you do not wish to appear in any photos or recordings, please let us know when you arrive.

In partnership with the Museum of Anthropology at UBC