Reisevortrag: Die Weisheit der Maya

In the organizer's words:

Lecture by Martin Engelmann

National Geographic photographer Martin Engelmann has been traveling to Mexico, Guatemala and Belize for 10 years. There he follows in the footsteps of the last Maya.

Deep in the rainforest, in a place where the concept of "time" does not exist, live the last descendants of the Maya - the Lacandones. They have been able to preserve their traditional way of life untouched for many centuries. Martin Engelmann enters a cosmos full of ancient myths and enigmatic rituals and investigates the ancient knowledge of the Maya. He meets their last shaman and is allowed to participate in the life and daily routine of the last descendants of the Maya. He returns year after year to capture the life of the Maya in photographs. Because their world is changing, modernity is moving into the former paradise at an alarming speed.

On adventurous routes, the photographer sets off in search of traces across Central America. In 2012, the Mayan calendar completed its cycle after 5,200 years. Martin Engelmann travels to Central America a few weeks before the end date to get to the bottom of the significance of the end of the calendar for the Maya and finally to be present at the celebrations and ceremonies of the shamans in the millennia-old temples of Tikal.

In the following years, he visits the mystical caves of Actun Tunichil Muknal, one of the most sacred places in the ancient Mayan world, and explores legendary places of worship from long-forgotten days. On the way to the highlands of Guatemala, he encounters the descendants of the Maya at Lake Atitlan and documents the traces of Christianization. Finally, Martin Engelmann climbs the almost 4,000-metre-high volcanoes and photographs the eruption of the active Fuego volcano at close range.

This lecture is a declaration of love to the people and their fascinating culture, from the evergreen rainforests and dream beaches of Mexico to the volcanic country of Guatemala. In impressive pictures, Martin Engelmann tells the story of a people that will soon no longer exist.

Price information:

Normal price: 15,00€ Globetrotter Club: 10,00€