Ecuador, Netherlands
2025
World Premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam IFFR 2025
Curated by Eva Langerak and displayed at Katoenhuis
Color, 2-channel digital film installation
08:40 min / 13:42 min, looped (22:21)
La Quema (del Planeta “B”) is a video installation that reflects on the 1624 burning and sacking of Guayaquil by the Nassau Fleet through the lens of Ecuador’s current vernacular practices—most notably año viejo, a popular custom in which effigies are collectively burned during New Year’s celebrations.
This mestizo ritual resists linear narratives, offering instead an Andean zig-zag perspective on renewal through repetition. The crafting of these effigies embodies Guayaquil’s vibrant popular culture and capitalist-driven desires, while paradoxically creating space for (political) protest. In a context where sustaining artistic practices remains precarious, this tradition has also given rise to informal economies.
Artists Joshua Jurado and Diego Cuesta—both based in southern Guayaquil—were invited to construct a año viejo in the shape of a galleon, inspired by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) vessel Amsterdam. Paraded through the city before being set alight, the sculpture marked 400 years since the original event, confronting historical cycles through collective action and vernacular symbolism.
Filmed during one of Guayaquil’s recent peaks in violence—tied to extractivist legacies—the project brings together two temporal perspectives shaped by the same hegemonic system. La Quema (del Planeta “B”) stands as a pointed question to that very system—one that has shaped our bodies, ethics, and desires in service of capital.
Produced by:
Francisco Baquerizo Racines
Joshua Jurado
‘Año Viejo’ Production Artists:
Joshua Jurado and Diego Cuesta
(Taller ‘Estudio Infinito’)
Artists Assistant: Ana Morán
Production Assistant: Kevin García
Direction Assistant: Gabriela Plaza
Camera:
Dario Herrera
Second Camera Operator:
Rodrigo Molina
Camera Assistant: Ángel Armijos
Sound: Roberto Bastidas
Sound Assistant:
Wilson Párraga Castillo
Location Scout: Geoffrey Barreto
Catering: Juan Camilo Saman
Production Stills:
Katayoon Barzegar
Francisco Baquerizo Racines
Editor: Francisco Baquerizo Racines
Colorist:
Dario Herrera (Punto de Vista EC)
Sound Mixer:
Roberto Bastidas (Audio Bastien)
VO Recording: Olivier Terpstra
Graphic Design:
Adrián Balseca
Motorbike Rider: Rodrigo Molina
Participants in ‘Burning’ Segment:
Pedro Guerrero, Diego King,
Alfredo Castillo
Paste-Ups in Guayaquil: Tony Balseca
Documentation Paste-Ups:
Melani Quiñones
Shipbreaking Yard Owner:
Tomás Merchan
Shipbreaking Yard Caretaker:
Pedro Guerrero
Commissioned Painting ‘La Quema’:
Iván Zuco
Custom-bench in Collaboration with:
Christian Lesmes
Special Thanks To:
Asoc. de Artesanos “Seis de marzo”
Barrio Pradera 3 in Guayaquil
Katayoon Barzegar
Juan José Baquerizo
Jorge Luis Baquerizo
Adrián Balseca
Andreas De Vuyst
Felipe Troya
Stefan Cammeraat
Tayron Luna
Juan Camilo Saman
Gabriel Peña
X Andrade
Ana Morán
Edison Andrés García Yépez
María Gabriela Carpio
Juan Carlos Castro
Jose Rosales
Cuerpo de Bomberos de Guayaquil
With the Support of:
Mondriaan Fund
Two images from the IFFR documentation at Katoenhuis, shot by Jan de Groen; all remaining images by Francisco Baquerizo Racines.
