Amazons. The Ancestral Future invites visitors to the Centre of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB) in Barcelona to explore the immense natural and cultural richness of the territory, cities and indigenous communities of the Amazon. This multi-layered, thoughtfully curated exhibition provides an opportunity to discover the art, thinking and the huge ecological impact of a region that is central for the future of the planet.
Amazons. The Ancestral Future is curated by Claudi Carreras with the collaboration of João Paulo Barreto, Eliane Brum, Andrés Cardona, Emilio Fiagama, Lilian Fraiji, Valério Gomes, Nelly Kuiru, Eduardo Neves, Daiara Tukano, Rember Yahuarcani and Joseph Zárate, and the participation of the UPC Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics.
Far from offering a folkloric or fatalistic view of life in Amazonia, the exhibition defends the connection and the profound knowledge that its peoples have of nature and their ancestors. Amazonias. TheAncestral Future not only speaks of a valuable culture and ecosystem; it also makes us think about ourselves as a society, about the fragility of our environment, and about the urgent need to recover more respectful ways of living.
Indigenous worldviews are presented throughout the exhibition in the form of artistic creations expressly commissioned from various indigenous artists and collectives. The exhibition is a unique opportunity to enjoy new work that has been specially commissioned from outstanding artists and indigenous groups, like the impressive murals painted on site in Barcelona by the MAHKU collective, Rember Yahuarcani, Elías Mamallacta, and Olinda Silvano and Cordelia Sánchez, photographs and audiovisual montages by Andrés Cardona, and an artistic installation by Santiago Yahuarcani and Nereyda López. The exhibit also presents the works of Lalo de Almeida, Alberto César Aráujo, Ashuco, Christian Bendayán, Rafa Bqueer, Luiz Braga, Sérgio Carvalho, CEA, Chicha ads, Colectivo Água (Pablo Albarenga, Soll Sousa and Mariana Greif), Rosalba Cuelo, Paulo Desana, Estúdio Bijari, Alessandro Falco, Laíza Ferreira, Emilio Fiagama, Nicola Ókin Frioli, Diego Guerrero, Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe, Enrique Hernández, Yefferson Huamán, Karl Joseph, Emi Kondo, Alice Lepetit, Confucio Makuritofe Hernández, Pedro Martinelli, Leydy Martínez Panduro, Monky, Yanda Montahuano, Victor Moriyama, Musuk Nolte, Jorge Panchoaga, Gerardo Petsain, Berna Reale, Abel Rodríguez, Lili Sandoval Panduro, Leslie Searles, Alexandre Sequeira, Gena Steffens, Marc Alexandre Tareu, Tawna (Nixon Andy, Tatiana López, Enoc Merino Santi, Boloh Miranda, Sani Montahuano, Mukutsawa Montahuano and Lucía Villaruel), Turenko Beça, Iván Valencia, Wara Vargas, Márcio Vasconcelos, Versus Photo (Gihan Tubbeh, Musuk Nolte and Renzo Giraldo), Gê Viana, Fernando Vílchez, Marcela Yucuna, William Yukuna, Zecarrillo, artistans from the communities Bora, Kukama and Urarina (Perú), among others.
Amazons. The Ancestral Future addresses the strategic importance of the preservation of the Amazon region at a global level. It presents the latest scientific and archaeological studies that question many of the traditional paradigms and present proven evidence of the relevance of Amazonia’s ecosystems for preserving our world and fighting the current climate crisis. These studies show that more than 50% of the Amazon is not a primary forest, but an induced landscape. Indigenous peoples and local communities have forged the forest landscapes throughout the region, interacted with their ecosystems for thousands of years and, in some cases, have formed the composition of the forest species to adapt them to their needs.
The exhibition proposes a fully immersive itinerary that enables visitors to listen to the sounds of the rainforest thanks to the latest sound research, and enter into new universes specially designed for the CCCB’s installations by creators from local communities. Hand in hand with leading scientists and researchers in the region, visitors will be able to discover the keys to the challenges that the preservation of the Amazon ecosystem poses. The need to establish international protection mechanisms that help Amazonian countries to establish sustainable and balanced development policies is one of the other fundamental themes of a discourse that calls upon us all.
Amazons. The Ancestral Future presents a new timeline and epistemology of the region; bringing the visitor closer to spaces of great symbolic value in the territory, such as the maloca, understood as the place of the word, where the immense diversity of languages present in the Pan-Amazon region, a plural universe at risk of disappearing, will be explained.
To understand the Amazon, it is also necessary to be familiar with the functioning of the global ecosystem, with the region’s importance in how water functions around the planet, and with the impact of global warming, the absorption of CO2 and the role of biodiversity.
Amazons. The Ancestral Future was conceived as a space for dialogue between indigenous wisdom and the latest scientific developments, under the urgency of consolidating a decolonial narrative and laying the foundations for articulating the rights of non-human entities.
Amazons. The Ancestral Future is at the CCCB Barcelona until 4th May, 2025.
