(Un)Known Artists of the Amazon

Centred on Indigenous art from Brazil, the exhibition traces how public perception of this art has changed. Its makers have been considered rather as mere bearers of their respective communities and traditions, void of any kind of individuality – hence, unlike the MAI, which names almost all artists and to whom it also fosters ongoing relations, the WMW only rarely names the artists among its collections.

The visual references discernible in the most widely differing art forms, are remarkable. They highlight the fact that Indigenous Brazilian art – past and present – is informed by a principle of aesthetics running throughout the human world, thereby linking to the ecological and spiritual environment.