Joseca Mokahesi

Many of them live in the northernmost part of the Brazilian Amazon, in an area slightly larger than Portugal, and they have been legally recognised by the Brazilian state since 1992. In   reaction to the invasion of their lands by gold miners, and as part of the fight for their rights, several Yanomami artists, including Mokahesi, have begun to try and use their art as a means of raising awareness in the outside world about their rich traditions and the beauty of their way of life. Over the course of the 1990s, Mokahesi founded the first Yanomami school, encouraging the youth of the community to learn to read and write in their language, and create bilingual brochures in Portuguese and Yanomamö. In the next decade, he decided to dedicate himself to drawing, depicting myths and shamanic songs of his culture, as well as moments from daily life. HIs works are accompanied by short descriptive titles in Yanomamö. Many of the characters depicted are xapiri, spirits left behind by Omama, a creation divinity of the Yanomami, who assists shamans with their work.

Since 2003, Mokahesi's work has been shown in several art institutions in Brazil and abroad. His works were presented by the Fondation Cartier in Paris in 2003, as part of the exhibition Yanomami, l'Esprit de la Forêt, then in 2012 in Histoires de Voir, and in 2019 in Nous les Arbres. His work has also appeared at the Power Station of Art in Shanghai (2021), London and Lille in 2022, and in The Yanomami Struggle at The Shed in New York (2023). In 2022, he was accorded his first solo exhibition Our Earth Forest (Kami Yamakɨ Urihipë) at the MASP (São Paulo Museum of Art).