The Atacama desert is witness to one of the most beautiful night skies on Earth. Ercilia Araya is a Colla community leader from the high Andes in the Atacama desert, near the city of Copiapó. The Atacama Large Milimiter Array observatory (ALMA) consists of more than 60 giant telescopes that focus on the sky day and night to gather terabytes of Astro-data. The telescopes move together in choreographed beautiful dance routines at the Chajnantor plateau. In the Kunza language chajnantor means “place of departure”; sacred for the Likanantay people. Ercilia’s land is like the Chajnantor plateau; high in altitude, low in oxygen, magical and very sacred. ALMA gathers data from events that occurred millions of years ago, millions of light-years away. The data travels through optical fibers from the sacred Chajnantor plateau to the ALMA basecamp. Astronomers in Japan study their data without having to look at the Atacama sky. Ercilia Araya looks at this sky every night. (Compilation, Track #8 by NKA)

Acknowledgments: Ercilia Araya, ALMA Observatory, The Sky Commodified, Flower Myth Records, Eric Maltz.

Released on July 2019 on limited edition hybrid cassette tape + print magazine.