Ethnobotanist Wade Davis brings his exploration of the Amazon rainforest and native indigenous cultures to the Universidad del Valle.
The visiting anthropologist and writer is scheduled to appear at the Meléndez campus on February 4, 2014, as reported by univalle.edu.co. Events begin at 9:00 a.m. in Auditorio No. 3 with a screening of the documentary film Apaporis. En busca del río.
Directed by Antonio Dorado, the 2010 documentary draws heavily from Davis’s celebrated book El río. That text maps part of Colombia’s complex botanical history and chronicles deep expeditions into the Amazon basin.
Davis first traveled to Colombia during his adolescence. He later returned for extensive fieldwork examining native American cultures and plant diversity.
Beyond South America, his research spans Eastern Africa, Borneo, Nepal, Peru, Polynesia, Tibet, Mali, Benin, Togo, New Guinea, Australia, Mongolia, and Greenland. His writing has regularly appeared in publications like National Geographic, where he serves as a resident explorer, alongside Outside, Fortune, Men’s Journal, and Condé Nast Traveler.
Nine of his books have been translated into Spanish. His literary work extends from non-fiction to popular culture, including The Serpent and the Rainbow, which inspired Wes Craven’s 1988 horror film about Haitian voodoo and zombification.
The morning program features a conversation with Davis following the documentary screening at 10:00 a.m. The joint appearance is hosted by the School of Social Communication within the Faculty of Integrated Arts and the Faculty of Natural and Exact Sciences.
Admission to the auditorium event is free, though organizers note that seating capacity is limited and requires prior registration through the School of Communication’s Production Center.
