Claudia Andujar, The Yanomami Struggle

The Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain is pleased to announce the largest exhibition to date dedicated to the work and activism of Claudia Andujar. For over five decades, she devotes her life to photographing and protecting the Yanomami, one of Brazil’s largest indigenous groups.

Based on four years of research in the photographer’s archive, this new exhibition curated by Thyago Nogueira for the Instituto Moreira Salles (Brazil), will focus on her work from this period, bringing together over three hundred photographs, an audiovisual installation as well as a series of Yanomami drawings. The exhibition will explore Claudia Andujar’s extraordinary contribution to the art of photography as well as her major role as a human rights activist in the defense of the Yanomami. It is divided into two sections reflecting the dual nature of a career committed to both art and activism.

The work of Claudia Andujar provides both an unparalleled glimpse into the complex cosmological worldview of the Yanomami and a powerful political indictment of the violence perpetrated against them. The explosive force of her photography remains relevant today in view of the renewed threats facing the Yanomami and the Amazon basin.

The Fondation Cartier is pleased to announce the presence of Claudia Andujar, Davi Kopenawa, Dario Kopenawa, Carlo Zacquini, Bruce Albert, and Thyago Nogueira at the exhibition’s opening events. They will also participate in The Night of the Yanomami, a talk organized on this occasion.

The exhibition is supported by Instituto Moreira Salles, Brazil, Instituto Socioambiental, Brazil and Hutukara Yanomami Association, Brazil.