With a team of 6 athletes compared to Britain’s 542, Bolivia are an Olympic nation that we probably wont be reading too much about on the back pages this fortnight. Here at Boat though we want to redress the balance as we take our weekly trip Beyond the Headlines.


A nation no doubt looking to change its 76 year medal drought has, over the past few years seen rather radical change on the political front. President Evo Morales was elected back in 2006, a victory that for the first time saw a candidate claim more than 50% of the vote in a Bolivian election. What makes this story all the more interesting though is that Morales is South America’s first ever elected indigenous person.


Florence born photographer Pietro Paolini has been working in South America since 2004 and was compelled by the social change occurring in the country, heading there in 2009 to begin documenting it. Over the course of the next two years, Paolini photographed the country as it continued to support Morales’ policies which look to implement integration of natives into the rest of society. With Morales now in his second term as president, Paolini’s ‘Bolivianas’ series wonderfully documents the country’s journey towards a collective consciousness. We caught up with the photographer to discuss his time in the country and his take on its unique period of social change. 



Photograph by Pietro Paolini ©


Your series Bolivianas documents a country in social transition, at the start of the second term of Evo Morales’ Presidency. What was it that captivated you most about the situation out there?


I was attracted to Bolivia primarily by a desire to discover how the political and social situation is developing as a result of president Morales’ election. I’m interested in general in the transformation of the entire South American continent, I’m captivated by those countries where something is changing quickly. As things stand at the moment these societies are open to all manner of possible futures and this atmosphere is what fascinates me.


During my journeys there I discovered many different aspects that convinced me that was the right place for my work, like how the ancient traditions derived from the indigenous cultures are mixing into and growing with contemporary daily life. This aspect with the help of the landscape creates a magic surrealistic atmosphere.


This was the first time that someone has been elected in Bolivia with more than 50% of the vote; did that percentage consist of many of the nation’s indigenous people?


Of course, he was able to compact the most part of population with a program strictly connected to life of the people. We also have to understand that he became famous as leader of the ‘cocaleros’ movement (the coca growers). This was really radical in that it flew in the face of the political culture of the country. Before becoming president he participated in all of Bolivia’s popular revolts with his MAS party (movement for socialism) like “The gas war” in 2003 against the privatization of this precious public resource.



Photograph by Pietro Paolini ©


In your time there, how successful did you feel that Morales’ attempts to integrate native communities with the general populous were?


It’s difficult for me to say if the work of the president is good or bad, reality is always more complex. The fact though, that indigenous people are integrated in the social and political life is something real. In the new constitution that the population approved in 2009 through referendum it was established that in every public institution there would have to be a percentage of indigenous people and also a percentage of women and that is respected in most of the case.


How did the average Bolivian citizen view the natives and the integration?


Indigenous people actually account for 80% of the country’s entire population, so the “average Bolivian citizen” is native themselves. However, in the first couple of years there was a dangerous movement against those politics in the cities less populated with natives. At the moment though, this kind of social contrast is quite low.



Photograph by Pietro Paolini ©


Do you feel that the country’s natural landscape has a lot to do with the amount of native communities still undisturbed by urban development and sprawl?


The Bolivian landscape is something incredible and magic and of course the fact that many communities are so far from the big cities was a way to maintain a strong traditional culture. It’ also really interesting to see how the indigenous traditions are involved in the contemporary urban development. We don’t have to imagine the natives as people that live in remote jungle, the cities are populated by indigenous people and their culture is a new mix between traditions and globalized way of life.


While indigenous peoples still live in many countries of the world, can you envisage a similar situation occurring elsewhere in that another native person will secure presidency of their country?


I really don’t know, in Bolivia the percentage of indigenous people helped this process, but I think is something that is not so strictly connected with ethnicity. It isn’t impossible, there just needs to be the right candidate at the right historical moment.



Photograph by Pietro Paolini ©


What was it like for you on a personal level to experience a country going through such widespread social change? Have you ever experienced anything else like it?


I have never experienced something like this in other country, I also worked in Ecuador and Venezuela, but the ethnic issue is so strong in Bolivia. I felt a kind of hope in the people and was really interesting for me, coming from a country and a continent where the idea of social and political radical change is not so different, due to a state of deep crisis. I’m not interested in judging their experience, but to understand the feeling of a country that is trying to change not just through their president but in their daily lives too. 


Did you get the impression in your time there like the Bolivian people were proud of their country’s efforts to protect and embrace their indigenous people?


Yes they are really proud of their way, but is not just something connected with the politicians. It is a collective journey to awareness and democracy that will be longer and more important that a single president, maybe the road to that goal is still long and hard.



Photograph by Pietro Paolini ©


Is there a risk that Morales’ work could be undone by whoever succeeds him? Could this result in a damaging backlash on the native people?


I think that they can’t turn back now in many aspects, as I said it is something that doesn’t depend entirely on Morales but all of the population. Also the general geopolitics of the continent is changing; the strong influence of Europe and U.S. is ending.


What do you hope the legacy of your Bolivianas project will be?


I hope that my work allow the viewer to have a different vision of a country that is often stereotyped. I’d like to contribute as other many young Latin American and European photographers to build a new contemporary iconography of the continent.



Photograph by Pietro Paolini ©


To see more from the Bolivianas series along with other stunning projects from Pietro Paolini head over to his Terra Project collective site here.


By Alec Dudson