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The Somos Axolotl story.
Somos Axolotl is an art- and tech-based initiative created by a digital artist, a muralist, and an environmental activist - three individuals united in their desire to push back against the potential extinction of one of the world's most compelling animals, the axolotl salamander.
Spearheaded by Matt “Scum” Martinez, Somos Axolotl works alongside the vibrant Xochimilco community in Mexico City to protect and restore axolotl populations through the development of sustainable economic systems for local farmers, businesses, organizations and tourism operators.
There can be no path toward healthy and balanced relationships with our natural environment without sustainable relationships between people, places, and our planet's other denizens. Somos Axolotl uses technology and art to inspire action, create solutions, and build partnerships supporting symbiosis between Xochimilco's human and axolotl populations.
As this project matures, the tools built and lessons learned in Xochimilco will become available to communities around the world.
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Our work in Xochimilco
(where the flowers grow)
Environment
For millennia, the area now known as Xochimilco was a wide and shallow lake hosting a remarkable array of fauna, including frogs, snakes, fish, and brightly-colored birds...
Community
Xochimilco represents one of the only remaining areas where the the footprint of Tenochtitlan, the ancient Aztec capital, has not melted away into the vastness of Mexico City.
Technology
There is no path to conservation without economic sustainability. What we are building together in the old Aztec canals is not just for Xochimilco, it’s for the whole world.
Our Approach
We believe that art has the power to inspire change, and that technology has the power to enact it. Somos Axolotl uses these tools to create new pathways toward sustainability for the Xochimilco community. Our Axolotl sculptures, designed and painted by a host of incredibly talented artists from across Mexico and beyond, will be placed throughout Xochimilco and along major tourism routes. The sculptures have embedded QR codes connected to revenue routing technology, thus driving both awareness and funding to the community members and organizations working to sustain and rebuild this unique and highly endangered ecosystem.
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We are proud to display our growing list of collaborators and contributors:
Our partners
Be a part of saving Xochimilco
If you wish to make your crypto currency donation a tax deductible gift, please email us at [email protected] to recieve information.
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