Patagonia, the region where I live, is a vast territory at the edge of the world, shared by Chile and Argentina. It has a low population density and hosts unique ecosystems, with a wide range of landscapes including rain-soaked forested archipelagos, mountains, ice fields, lake basins, and immense steppes.
It is no secret that it has been—and continues to be—subject to extractivism. Nor that its original inhabitants, the Southern Indigenous Peoples, were subjected to massacres and displacement in order to exploit their ancestral lands. What I present here is not just an album. It is also an exercise in memory and a reflection on the degradation of nature in the name of economic growth and employment—processes that ultimately benefit a few external interests.
It addresses both past and present actions that have severely damaged Patagonian ecosystems: the whaling industry, the introduction of beavers, and salmon farming. It reflects on disasters such as the oil spill of the tanker “Metula” in the Strait of Magellan, and the passage of a ghost fishing fleet through our waters. It also considers the invasion of “Didymo”, an exotic microalgae species that infests our rivers and lakes.
It speaks to the widely promoted hydrogen–ammonia industry, labeled as “green”, yet posing a threat to the biological integrity of the steppe and the Magellanic maritime territory. And to the wildfires that ravage our forests year after year, often under uncertain and troubling circumstances.
This album does not seek to soothe or provide comfort. Rather, through sound, it conveys my concern for the future of Patagonia—my place in the world, which I recognize as my home. A place that must remain a sanctuary for natural and human life, increasingly under threat on a global scale.
Rafael Cheuquelaf
(Punta Arenas, Chile. April 2026)
Typecell
