Less known to the public eye than its neighbor the Amazon, the Paraguayan Gran Chaco forest has the highest deforestation rate in the world. Every day more than 1.000 hectares of dry forest are cut down for meat production. The indigenous communities who call it their home now live within close proximity of the small towns that have sprung up there. Men from these indigenous communities are generally employed as agricultural workers by large landowners.
These communities are home to outstanding artists, discovered by the anthropologists Verena and Ursula Regehr, who supported and promoted them with local exhibitions. Their drawings and sculptures bear witness to the deep bond they developedwith their rapidly disappearing environment, including plants and animals.
Even if their survival and culture are threatened, be it by the growing number of farms taking over the region, the increased cultivation of soy crops or, today, the Covid-19 pandemic, these artists keep on drawing. Their works denounce the destruction of their environment and take us on a fascinating journey through the emblematic landscapes of the Gran Chaco.