---
title: "Pirarucú"
summary: "Pirarucú. Página institucional de Amaranto Museo Virtual de Derecho Constitucional en la Universidad Externado de Colombia. Photo credits: María Fernanda Cardoso Click on the image to enlarge Seventy kilograms of rough, dried scales from the Pirarucú—the great Amazonian fish now endangered—are strung along a spiral wire, suggesting an apparent tension between freedom of artistic expression and the protection of endangered animal life, as well as the collective right to environmental preservation."
description: "Photo credits: María Fernanda Cardoso Click on the image to enlarge Seventy kilograms of rough, dried scales from the Pirarucú—the great Amazonian fish now endangered—are strung along a spiral wire, suggesting an apparent tension between freedom of artistic expression and the protection of endangered animal life, as well as the collective right to environmental preservation."
url: "https://www.uexternado.edu.co/en/amaranto-museo-virtual/2-derechos/pirarucu/"
type: "page"
language: "en-US"
site: "Universidad Externado de Colombia"
section: "Amaranto Museo Virtual de Derecho Constitucional"
updated: "2026-06-11T12:01:46-05:00"
---

Publicado: 10 of November of 2021

# Pirarucú

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[Gallery 2. Rights](https://www.uexternado.edu.co/en/amaranto-museo-virtual/2-derechos/)

[  
](https://www.uexternado.edu.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/pirarucu-maria-fernanda-cardoso.jpg)

**Photo credits: María Fernanda Cardoso**  
Click on the image to enlarge

#### María Fernanda Cardoso

1992  
Preserved fish scales  
70 x 50 x 50 cm

Seventy kilograms of rough, dried scales from the Pirarucú—the great Amazonian fish now endangered—are strung along a spiral wire, suggesting an apparent tension between freedom of artistic expression and the protection of endangered animal life, as well as the collective right to environmental preservation. María Fernanda Cardoso, known for works that challenge environmental rights, invites reflection on the human impact on nature’s preservation, biodiversity, and the excessive exploitation, commodification, and mass consumption of natural resources. The piece contrasts the rights enshrined in Articles 71 and 91 of the Constitution.

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#### See

[About the Artwork](https://mariafernandacardoso.com/)

[About the Artist](https://enciclopedia.banrepcultural.org/index.php/Mar%C3%ADa_Fernanda_Cardoso)

[Sentencia T-235A-02 Libertad de expresión](https://www.corteconstitucional.gov.co/relatoria/2002/T-235A-02.htm)

[Derecho de expresión artística](https://revistas.uexternado.edu.co/index.php/derest/article/view/3813)

[Back to Gallery 2. Rights](https://www.uexternado.edu.co/en/amaranto-museo-virtual/2-derechos/)

[](https://www.uexternado.edu.co/en/amaranto-museo-virtual/2-derechos/y-seguiremos-diciendo-patria/)

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