“Meyijbén” is the result of ethno-acoustics studies and performativity applied to the interaction with gray whales during their winter presence in the Ojo de Liebre Lagoon in Baja California Sur.

 

Based on the research carried out through The Leviathan's Playing cycle (2017-2021), the physical, environmental, and seasonal situations conducive to interaction with this species of cetaceans were identified based on playing-ritual dynamics and littoral navigation. In turn, a series of gestures and arts were developed that make it possible to exercise an effective interaction with gray whales, taking into account their specific observation and listening abilities, as well as strict respect for their biological cycle.

 

To this has been added a detailed study of the seasonal transformations of the ecosystem in which gray whales, humans, and countless species in wildlife concur, anchored to the documentary rescue of ethnographic information on the native cultures of the region; information that has allowed us to re-decipher the existence of an interchange season between the desert and the sea.

 

“Meyijbén” is proposed as an interspecies celebration that marks the beginning and the end of the courtship and breeding season among gray whales, of flowering in the desert, and of fecundity in the sea. Its ritual is built from elements inspired by animistic practices of indigenous cultures of the North Pacific and has been designed through the systematic study of interspecies communication channels and the responses of cetaceans to performative activities.

 

It is presented as a common playing, as a festivity of mutual care and hope in the continuation of the cycles of life.