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From the Arctic to the rainforests: MoCNA hosts dual exhibits examining communities, landscapes facing dramatic change
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Melting Arctic glaciers and Indigenous Amazon artwork reveal contrasting worlds facing dramatic change at the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts.
The award-winning filmmaker Inuk Silis H酶egh will debut his film installation 鈥淭he Green Land鈥� at a time when his homeland is undergoing drastic changes. In an adjacent gallery, 鈥淲omb of the Earth: Cosmovision of the Rainforest鈥� showcases the works of Brazilian Indigenous female artists illustrating threats to their lives, cultures and homelands through deforestation, illegal mining, agriculture and development.
From the Arctic to the rainforests: MoCNA hosts duel exhibits examining communities, landscapes facing dramatic change
H酶egh structured 鈥淭he Green Land鈥� around the classical four elements. The color green takes shape as fire, water, earth and air as it passes through a barren landscape resembling the Arctic, but which might be another planet. The color can be an alien threat or a salvation, depending on your perception of the landscape as pure or toxic.
The film asks whether we are witnessing a slow death or a new beginning 鈥� apocalypse or creation 鈥� or both.
鈥淢ost people would guess it鈥檚 about climate change,鈥� said Manuela Well-Off-Man, museum chief curator. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also celebrating Greenland鈥檚 nature. It also talks about human interference in nature.鈥�
The film is entirely handmade, without the help of computer manipulation, she added.
H酶egh graduated from the Royal Danish Art Academy in 2010. His work has been shown in Greenland, Denmark, France, Iceland, Finland, Latvia and Germany.
Indigenous Brazilian women鈥檚 collectives contributed the artwork to 鈥淲omb of the Earth: Cosmovision of the Rainforest.鈥�
鈥淥ften these are ceramic pieces, animal sculptures based on their mythology,鈥� Well-Off-Man said.
A snake carrying ceramic pots was inspired by the anaconda, who taught the people ceramics, she added.
A bright red beaded banner takes the form of a tree enmeshed with animals and plants to show the interconnectedness of every living thing. In a photograph, a Brazilian curator poses in body paint reflecting a 12,000-year-old petroglyph on the rock behind her.
鈥淢any of the patterns are inspired by the animals you see in the rainforest,鈥� Well-Off-Man said.
The body paint also protects the wearer from insects.
What unites these artworks is the artists鈥� interest in the close relationship between the human body/soul and surrounding nature, expressed through paintings and ceramics.
The exhibit is the first by Indigenous Brazilian artists to show at MoCNA.
鈥淲omb of the Earth鈥� explores the importance of Brazil鈥檚 rainforest 鈥� one of the world鈥檚 most biodiverse regions 鈥� for area tribes鈥� physical and cultural survival, as well as the role of female artists in the struggle to preserve their homeland.
The show introduces three female collectives. Among these are Assurini and Awaete artists who render traditional female body painting patterns in acrylic on fabric.
To them, the rainforest represents the origins of life.
The exhibition was organized in dialogue with the artists and Brazilian co-curators Cristine Taku谩 and Anita Ekman.
