For over 50 years, artist and activist Claudia Andujar has documented daily life of the Yanomami people native to Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. Instead of presenting an anthropological lens, which is often the approach for journalistic coverage on indigenous peoples native to the region, Andujar developed a lifelong connection that has allowed her to document an intimate portrait on the culture and struggles of Yanomami life.
On view at The Shed in New York, Andujar presents the latest stop in her exhibition, The Yanomami Struggle. Featured alongside 200 of her own photographs are works by Yanomami artists, such as André Taniki, Ehuana Yaira, Joseca Mokahesi, Orlando Nakɨ uxima, Poraco Hɨko, Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe, and Vital Warasi. Also on view are a selection of video works by contemporary Yanomami filmmakers Aida Harika, Edmar Tokorino, Morzaniel Ɨramari, and Roseane Yariana.
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Born in Switzerland in 1931, Andujar moved to New York City in 1946 after escaping the Holocaust and eventually to Brazil in 1955 to pursue a career in photography. Andujar would spend the next 50 years bonding and fighting for the struggles of the Yanomami people, whose existence, many would argue was under threat under former Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro.
Andujar explained her bond in a past statement:
“I am connected to the indigenous, to the land, to the primary struggle. All of that moves me deeply. Everything seems essential. Perhaps I have always searched for the answer to the meaning of life in this essential core. I was driven there, to the Amazon jungle, for this reason. It was instinctive. I was looking to find myself.
The Yanomami Struggle previously went on view at the Instituto Moreira Salles in São Paulo, the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris and the Barbican Centre in London. For those in New York, the exhibition will be on view at The Shed until April 16.
In related news, Anish Kapoor has installed his first permanent public artwork in New York.
The Shed
545 W 30th St
New York, NY 10001
