THROUGH THE WATERS OF THE NHE’ẼRY:
a conversation about ecologies
1 September 2026
On 20 August, more than 100 people from around the world gathered for the online conversation "Waters of Nhe’ẽry", featuring guests Carlos Papá, master, spiritual leader, and coordinator of the Guarani Living School, and Fabio Scarano, ecologist and collaborator with the Selvagem Association. The conversation was part of the programme celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG), a non-profit organisation dedicated to nature conservation, environmental education, and sustainable living, located on the slopes of Tai Mo Shan, the highest mountain in Hong Kong, Japan.
In celebration of the partnership between Kadoorie and the Selvagem Association, which has been ongoing since 2023, the conversation is part of a series of gatherings centred on the theme the “Awakening of Memory”, inspired by a talk given by Cristine Takuá, coordinator of the Living Schools movementmovement, at the institution’s invitation in 2025.
In this new gathering, Carlos Papá and Fabio Scarano set out from the waters of Nhe’ẽry (Atlantic Forest) to bring together wisdom and knowledge from different origins, reflecting on ways to recover a more attentive and caring relationship with the planet. Weaving together insights from the Guarani language with those from biological and climate sciences, the conversation made the Atlantic Forest the starting point for an exchange on the presence of water in the origin and sustenance of life.
Carlos Papá during the making of the film Nhe’ẽry, in 2021. Photo: Elisa Mendes.
Drawing from the short film Nhe’ẽry, Carlos Papá opened the conversation by showing how, in Guarani thought, “Nhe’ẽry”, which we commonly know as the Atlantic Forest, is the place where spirits bathe, where sounds (nhe’ẽ), feelings, and pathways to spiritual elevation reside. Showing the drawings present in his new book, “Tekoypy rã – A origem de nós” [Tekoypy rã - The origin of us] (Dantes, 2026), Papá explained how, through Jaxuka, mother of the universe, and her son Nhanderu, the first Sun, Jakaira, the mist on the mountain horizon, was created, as well as Tupã, who waters and cares for the forests, among other deities who manifest in Nhe’ẽry. Papá also spoke of Y, “the pillar of all things”, created by Nhanderu, in which liquid sustenance is what keeps everything in existence connected, a central theme of his talk, also present in the Selvagem booklet Pytun Jera, Night blossom.
Fabio Scarano during the recording of his talk for the Sun cycle, in 2024. Photo: Mauricio Machado.
Fabio Scarano revisited many of the images brought by Papá to speak about the Atlantic Forest, a biome marked by the constant presence of water, but also deeply transformed by human occupation of colonial origin. A large part of its forest has been fragmented into small conservation areas which, for Scarano, show what modernity has done to the connected whole described by Papá. How, then, can we return to perceiving the connections that constitute us?
Drawing parallels between Y and concepts such as James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis’s Gaia theory, and Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela’s autopoiese, the conversation delved into the capacity of living systems to maintain and regenerate themselves, as well as other senses of reconnection between body, universe, and territory. By exploring Anhendu (the act of feeling), and paying close attention to sounds, movements, sensations, sleep, and dreams, other ways of relearning how to perceive the planet’s movements were outlined. Engaging with themes of memory and attention in contemporary society, the conversation proposed imagining futures built upon the lessons from Nhe’ẽry, reclaiming presence as a way to reconnect with the world and with ourselves.
Watch the full conversation and follow the schedule of events organised by Kadoorie over the coming months, with new talks planned for September and October.
Click on the image to watch the full recording of the conversation “Waters of the Nhe’ẽry”.
ABOUT THE GUESTS
Carlos Papá is an artist, filmmaker, spiritual leader of his community and coordinator of Arandu Porã - Guarani Living School. Papá has collaborated with the Selvagem Association since 2018 on learnings that involve translating words from the Guarani language in a non-reductionist sense, presenting the path to constructing the worldview of the Guarani people and its profound ancestral meanings. Papá led the study cycle NHE’ERY – AYVU PARÁ, organised by Selvagem in partnership with the Guarani Living School and the Museum of Indigenous Cultures in 2023, and has participated in numerous meetings, study cycles and other Selvagem projects, such as the audiovisual series Arrow and Droplet.
Fabio Rubio Scarano graduated in Forestry Engineering from the University of Brasília, Brazil, and obtained his PhD in Ecology from the University of St Andrews, Scotland. He has been an associate professor of Ecology at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro [Federal University of Rio de Janeiro], Brazil, since 1993. His field of study focuses on climate issues from the perspective of Gaia. Fabio has collaborated with the Selvagem Association since 2018, having been present at Selvagem's first in-person discussion circles, where he published his book Regenerantes de Gaia [Regenerants of Gaia] [Regenerants of Gaia] (Dantes, 2019). He is also the author of the booklet The language of Gaia, and has participated as a speaker in the study cycles Sun and Regenerantes de Gaia [Regenerants of Gaia].