YWY, Searching for a Character between Future Worlds Gender, Ecology, Science Fiction

Science-fiction narratives on indigenisms and the creation of worlds.

Conceived by Pedro Neves Marques, YWY is an android played by indigenous actress and artist Zahy Guajajara, who gave her the name “YWY,” meaning “land” or “territory” in her native Tupi-Guarani language. The character’s co-invention by a white European author and a native artist from Brazil sets in motion a dynamic that can be resolved only by being given away and shared with a plurality of voices. YWY, Searching for a Character Between Future Worlds shares the fictional character of YWY with several authors from Brazil, the United States, and beyond, creating a conversation about science fiction and robotics, ecology and gender, Indigenous Futurisms and what it means to be human.

Pedro Neves Marques is a visual artist, filmmaker, and writer. They have published widely between art, anthropology, and ecology, edited the anthology The Forest and The School, and guest-edited e-flux journal’s special issue Supercommunity for the Venice Biennale. Beyond their publishing activities Pedro Neves Marques is also a co-founder of inhabitants-tv.org, an online channel for experimental reporting.