February 9, 2023

The Yanomami Struggle at The Shed, February 3 – April 16, 2023 

“Hervé Chandès, Artistic Managing Director of the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain and Alex Poots, Artistic Director & CEO of The Shed, are pleased to announce the North American debut of The Yanomami Struggle, a comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the collaboration and friendship between artist and activist Claudia Andujar and the Yanomami people, one of the largest Indigenous groups living in Amazonia today.

Following acclaimed presentations at the IMS São Paulo, the Fondation Cartier, and the Barbican Centre (London), among other venues, the exhibition will be expanded at The Shed to include more than 80 drawings and paintings by Yanomami artists André Taniki, Ehuana Yaira, Joseca Mokahesi, Orlando Nakɨ uxima, Poraco Hɨko, Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe, and Vital Warasi. Visitors will also discover new video works by contemporary Yanomami filmmakers Aida Harika, Edmar Tokorino, Morzaniel Ɨramari, and Roseane Yariana. These works will appear alongside more than 200 photographs by Claudia Andujar that trace the artist’s encounters with the Yanomami and continue to raise visibility for their struggle to protect their land, people, and culture. The dialogue established between the contemporary Yanomami artists’ work and Andujar’s photographs offers an unprecedented vision of Yanomami culture, society, and visual art. The contemporary Yanomami works will be shown in New York for the first time, building the most extensive presentation of Yanomami art in the U.S. to date.” — The Shed

Claudia Andujar. Catrimani region, 1972-76. Mineral pigment print (from infrared film), 17.3 x 26 inches (44 x 66 cm). Artwork © Claudia Andujar. Collection of the artist.
Claudia Andujar. Collective house near the Catholic mission on the Catrimani River, Roraima state, 1976. Mineral pigment print (from infrared film), 35.8 x 55.1 inches (91 x 140 cm). Artwork © Claudia Andujar. Collection of the artist.
Claudia Andujar. A guest decorated with vulture and hawk down feathers at a feast, Catrimani region, 1974. Gelatin silver print, 26.4 x 39.8 inches (67 x 101 cm). Artwork © Claudia Andujar. Collection of the artist.
André Taniki. Visions from the world of the xapiri, with its houses, mirrors, and paths, 1978–81. Felt pen on paper, 8.3 x 11.4 inches (21 x 29 cm). Artwork © André Taniki. Collection of Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.
Davi Kopenawa. The house of the xapiri spirits, 2003. Felt pen on paper, 8.3 x 11.7 inches (21 x 29.7 cm). Artwork © Davi Kopenawa. Collection of Bruce Albert.
Ehuana Yaira. Thuë paiximu, a woman in the forest adorned by “honey leaves”, 2021. Pencil, pen, and felt pen on paper, 16.5 x 11.6 inches (42 x 29.5 cm). Artwork © Ehuana Yaira. Collection of Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.
Joseca Mokahesi. Such are the paths of the xapiri when they descend into the house of the shamans, 2003. Felt pen on paper, 16.5 x 11.7 inches (42 x 29.8 cm). Artwork © Joseca Mokahesi. Collection of Bruce Albert.
Orlando Nakɨ uxima. A myth about the first menstruation. According to mythology, a young girl left her house with her brother and had her first period while walking through the forest. They were captured by ghosts (pore), who then lived on earth, but the brother escaped and warned the other villagers. In the cave where they lived, the pore killed, cooked and ate the girl. As a result, during a Yanomami girl’s first period she must remain isolated until it has passed, accompanied only by her mother, 1977. Felt pen on paper, 12 x 9.1 inches (30.5 x 23 cm). Artwork © Orlando Nakɨ uxima. Collection of Claudia Andujar.
Poraco Hɨko. The demiurge Omama (red) and his son; Omama’s evil brother Yoasi and his pregnant calf (top), 1976-77. Felt pen on paper, 12 x 9.1 inches (30.5 x 23 cm). Artwork © Poraco Hɨko. Collection of Claudia Andujar.
Vital Warasi. Urihihamɨ (in the forest), two scorpions, 1976. Felt pen on paper 12 x 9.1 inches (30.5 x 23 cm) Artwork © Vital Warasi. Collection of Claudia Andujar.
Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe. Hii Hi frare frare [Tree with yellow trunk], 2021. Acrylic on canvas 163 cm x 168 cm Artwork © Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe. Collection of Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

“I think the most important thing is the chance to introduce people to another aspect of our world. At the same time, this other aspect of our world allows us to recognize ourselves in other human beings who deserve to live their lives as they wish and according to their own understanding of the world“. — Claudia Andujar 

“Those who do not know the Yanomami will know them through these images. My people are in them. You have never visited them, but they are present here. It is important to me and to you, your sons and daughters, young adults, children to learn to see and respect my Yanomami people of Brazil who have lived in this land for many years”. — Davi Kopenawa, shaman and Yanomami leader

“At a time when Amazonia is threatened once again by unbridled development, deforestation, and illegal mining, this exhibition presents a multilayered narrative of violence and resistance. It also uses art as a platform to amplify the Yanomami voices and expose our responsibilities in the humanitarian and environmental crisis threatening Indigenous societies worldwide”. — Thyago Nogueira, curator

The exhibition is curated by Thyago Nogueira, Head of Contemporary Photography at Instituto Moreira Salles, São Paulo, Brazil (IMS) and organized by IMS, the Fondation Cartier, and The Shed in partnership with the Brazilian NGOs Hutukara Associação Yanomami and Instituto Socioambiental. 

Images courtesy The Shed.