Art Review: The Yanomami Struggle Comes to the United States with a Vast Collection and an Urgent Plea

Laser focused in scope but wide ranging in material, The Yanomami Struggle augments fifty years of Claudia Andujar’s emotional photography with eighty works by contemporary Yanomami artists.

For a population that has been subject to countless human rights abuses and whose land has been mutilated by illegal mining, the Yanomami people are right to express distrust toward anyone coming from “the outside”. For that reason, Claudia Andujar‘s fifty years of anthropological imagery of the Yanomami people, now on view as part of The Yanomami Struggle at The Shed in New York City through April 16, was not an instant bonanza of fervent creativity. She spent an entire year in the remote community as a mere observer, gaining the trust of the people in this loosely governed yet heavily-occupied area.

Aware that she could never truly be Yanomami, it was this methodical, respectful approach to observation and a friendship with Shaman and spokesperson Davi Kopenawa that gave way to Andujar’s outsized role in the community as an advocate, activist, and incidental historian over the many years of exposure to the Yanomami.

As a result, instead of treating her subject as a community of exotic, non-communicative creatures, Andujar’s work is organic and real- imprecise, brutal, and not obviously anthropological. Paired with experience and appreciation in abstract painting, Andujar’s style is defined by movement, light, and space- bold colors, deep shadows; obscured figures- impressions over absolute accuracy.

Installation view: The Yanomami Struggle, The Shed, New York, February 3 – April 16, 2023. Photo: Adam Reich. Courtesy Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

The architectural use of light lends itself to communicating the unique traditions and rituals shared by the Yanomami, offering a remarkably engaging impression of an endangered lifestyle. This is especially evident in a series of images highlighting the rituals around the potent and culturally important yakoana, which has hallucinogenic properties. In these images, sun-dappled yanos or shabonos, the communal houses essential in Yanomami life, become the stage for the sophisticated and unpredictable rituals which Andujar had the rare opportunity to witness.

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. Photo: Adam Reich. Courtesy Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

Carefully-framed images make the forests the Yanomami inhabit feel impossibly vast. Jewel tones of sapphire or topaz make roaring rivers feel especially precious. Long and double exposures capturing streaking runs of light make some images feel unexpectedly cosmopolitan and urban, despite being taken in the center of a rainforest.

The faces and bodies of the Yanomami come in all ages and conditions, offering a look into different stages of struggle and success. In this way, Andujar’s theatrical expression of the Yanomami in the Amazon truly manages to visually represent the emotional connection the community has to their home- it is paradise on earth.

These vivid photographs by Andujar have now been joined by eighty works by native and contemporary Yanomami artists, reinforcing the relevancy of the Yanomami Struggle in the new century. Political developments in Brazil have put the Yanomami at risk once more, with hope being pinned on the election of new leadership in the country and the continued sharing of this story.

Offered in a variety of mediums from abstract drawings and documentary-style videos, the expanded selection of work shows how the Yanomami represent themselves and engage with art as they know it. Indeed, even during a preview of the show, a Morzaniel Ɨramari, one of the first Yanomami to work directly in cinema, filmed and recorded a majority of the event. Joseca Mokahesi elaborates on the experiences of the shamans through interpretive drawings of the xapiri, a spiritual helper which the shamans encounter in various forms.

Installation view: The Yanomami Struggle, The Shed, New York, February 3 – April 16, 2023. Photo: Adam Reich. Courtesy Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

Under the close consultation of Yanomami leaders, The Yanomami Struggle was curated by Thyago Nogueira and includes support from the Paris-based Fondation Cartier, São Paulo’s Instituto Moreira Salles, and the NGOs Hutukara Associação Yanomami and Instituto Socioambiental. It has been shown around the world, but only in New York City can you see the expanded story.

“The relevance of us being here in this exhibition is for you American people, you New Yorkers, to see [us],” states Yanomami spokesperson Dario Kopenawa. “You can see the struggle of our survival, and the struggle for our existence.”

The Shed is hosting a series of events bringing more awareness to indigenous art and struggles, including a special event on Saturday, March 4th, which will feature an address by Mirian Masaquiza Jerez, social affairs officer of the United Nations Secretariat; artistic responses by poet, artist, and activist Cecilia Vicuña, musician and composer Laura Ortman, and singer and composer Jennifer Kreisberg; and a closing reflection facilitated by Candice Hopkins, executive director and chief curator at Forge Project. Another special event will take place April 8th, exploring similar topics (tickets here).

The Yanomami Struggle is on view now until April 16, 2023 at The Shed, 545 W 30th St New York, NY 10001. Tickets here.