Conquering Self-Representation: A collaborative approach to the political aesthetical dimension of Amazonian Art (Amazonart)

Santiago Yahuarcani, The Triumph/Emodofide, 2014, natural dyes and acrylic on tree bark. Image courtesy of the artist.
Santiago Yahuarcani, The Triumph/Emodofide, 2014, natural dyes and acrylic on tree bark. Image courtesy of the artist.

Amazonart is an interdisciplinary and intersectorial project that develops a novel approach to understanding the work, trajectories and activism of indigenous Amazonian contemporary artists as they enter global art circuits, and seeks to produce new curatorial narratives. It does this through a collaborative methodology with Amazonian artists responding to their aim of self-representation.

The participatory and interdisciplinary approach of this research seeks to contribute to dialogues between anthropology, art history and curatorial studies, and benefit indigenous artists and museum practices and policies. Amazonart focuses on Peru’s Amazonian contemporary art with particular attention to Uitoto and Shipibo artists, who are playing an important role in the growing visibility of Amazonian art at national and international levels.

This research understands the practices of Amazonian contemporary artists and their contributions to the art world and the society at large by addressing the condition of mobility of these practices and their aesthetic influences and negotiations across the community, urban centres and international art circuits. It focuses not only on shamanic aspects but explores the large spectrum of agendas that these works mobilise and the challenges they posit to the narratives and protocols of art. Finally, it goes beyond semantic and discursive practices to engage with the artists themselves, their projects, their voices and dreams, as it contributes to open channels for self-representation.

The Amazonart project – Phase 1 (2019 – 2021) was a recipient of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, and was held in the Department of Sociology at the University of Essex.

The Amazonart project – Phase 2 (2022 – present) has received internal funding from Newcastle University and is held in the Centre for Latin America and Caribbean Studies at this University.