One of the most important masterpieces representing the Amazon as a central theme and scenario is Fitzcarraldo, directed by Werner Herzog. At the beginning of this film the director presents a myth created by himself, according to which aboriginal population from the Amazon called this land Cayahuari Yacu, which means "The land where God did not finish creation", and claims that only when man disappears God will come back to finish his work. Herzog's myth summarizes the conflictive relationship between the Amazon and men who conquered and exploited it in the XVI Century, and who continued exploiting it over centuries. At the same time, it synthesizes the impossibility human beings have had to embrace this region not only because of their geographic extension but also due to its diversity and cultural complexity, which leads to be interpreted as an inconclusive territory in its creation.

Today, the Amazon continues to be a region in conflict and at the same time an endless source for artists, writers, researchers and creators in general. At the present time, an type of art has developed which unites oral tradition of indigenous peoples and their ancestral iconographies together with contemporary disciplines such as photography or installation.This art has developed ways to convey this uncontainable Amazon region and to generate new myths that are nourished from a complex reality, that of Amazonian men and women, guardians of a millenary knowledge that has preserved the balance of the ecosystem.

The exhibition Cayahuari Yacu assembles the work of this generation of artists. Rember Yarcahuani and Graciela Arias reveal the myths of origin of their people, the creatures of the forest and the harmonious coexistence with the environment. Simultaneously, Silvana Pestana and Brus Rubio warn about extractive activities which threatens the harmony with nature. On the other hand, Harry Chavez and Killa Piqueras open windows and gates to worlds where totemic beings transmit us their protective energy as initiation and cure of the spirit. Finally, Morfi Jimenez and Christian Bendayan portray the Amazonian cities as scenarios of cultural encounters, reflecting a dislocated modernity, with a nature that cannot and should not be destroyed by man, which, on the contrary, must show the world the importance of its existence: to perpetuate the task of continuing with its inconclusive creation.

About the exhibition

Date: March 18 – April 20, 2016

Venue: Pa Ta Gallery

Artists: Graciela Arias, Christian Bendayan, Harry Chavez, Morfi Jimenez, Silvana Pestana, Kylla Piqueras, Brus Rubio, Rember Yahuarcani

Courtesy of the artists and Pa Ta Gallery.