Sweet Thought, Sweet Word, and Sweet Feeling — The Medicine of Sugar Cane

Sugarcane is as full of death as it is full of life, and trying to tell sugar cane stories is an opening of a deep drawer of grief and survival. Even though I want to honor all of them, they are massive and out of my limits. Therefore I decided to approach it from personal relations with sugar and panela situated in the Colombian context, yet acknowledging the vast geographical and cultural impact this plant has. The whiteness (in the complete sense) of refined sugar often clouds the medicinal properties of sugarcane and the diversity of preparations and uses of its juice and unrefined derivatives like panela, the primary nutritional source in Colombia. The main goal of this work is to offer a sentipensante space, un círculo de palabra, una olla comunitaria, a tea ceremony, or a cooking performance to share the experience of drinking a sweet healing beverage AGUADEPANELA. Open a conversation with people about their personal relation to sugar, sweetness, and healing. Letting the conversation, the storytelling, and the gathering around the boiling water be the work of art. Celebrate and grieve with the stories of cane while raising awareness about unconsciousness, individualism, and oblivion in sugar consumption.