SANTIAGO YAHUARCANI: EL PRINCIPIO DEL CONOCIMIENTO
The Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) is hosting "El principio del conocimiento," the first solo exhibition in Brazil for Peruvian artist Santiago Yahuarcani. Curated by Amanda Carneiro, the show features approximately 35 paintings on llanchama (tree bark) that explore the Uitoto worldview. The exhibition is organized into five thematic sections that navigate the sensory experience of the Amazon, the spiritual significance of sacred plants like coca and tobacco, and the brutal historical memory of colonial extraction.
This exhibition is a significant milestone in the global recognition of Indigenous Amazonian contemporary art, moving these practices from local circuits to major international institutions. By addressing the "Time of Bloody Tears"—the rubber boom genocide that decimated Indigenous populations—Yahuarcani uses his work as a tool for historical justice and intergenerational healing. The show challenges Western audiences to engage with a complex cosmology where myth, history, and spirit are inseparable, asserting the painting as a vital site of political and ontological resistance.