INNER VISIONS A RUSTS O F THE PERU VJ A N A M A Z O N

INNER VISIONS: ARTISTS OF THE PERUVIAN AMAZON 4th NOVEMBER - 11th DECEMBER, 1999

In the Peruvian Amazon, art serves as a shamanic tool. To appreciate this art, therefore, it is first necessary to understand neotropical shamanism - that Central and South American branch of a widespread tradition still to be found surviving in many cultures around the world - recognizing it as an integral part of the Peruvian culture which it has helped to form.

The term shaman - a word originally of Tungusic Siberian origin - is now commonly used to refer to the religio-cutural practitioner of the tradition known as shamanism. The roots of shamanism are to be found in the distant prehistoric past, when the human psyche and imagination were vastly more powerful than human technology; when language, although rudimentary and limited, was nonetheless imbued with the power of enchantment. In one form or another shamanism was perhaps mankind's first cohesive religio-cultural tradition. With the migration of human populations, shamanism spread throughout the world, while retaining its core teachings and adapting its art, iconography, and mythology to new latitudes and environments. It is safe to say that its expression in the extreme northern latitudes is probably a later and somewhat marginal development, as these areas were not colonised by human communities until relatively late prehistoric times. In the New World, shamanic traditions are primarily found in the neotropical latitudes.

Above: YANDO RIOS, Amasanga, Master of the Forest (detail), 1999, Mixed Media, 75 x 70 cm

Many of the themes which characterized pre-Columbian shamanism have continued into the ethnographic present. In addition, many shamanic beliefs are ancestral to related beliefs found in contemporary non-shamanic religions. Among these are the existence of a spirit world, the belief in an afterlife, the concept of soul, the division of reality into a series of upper-worlds (heavens) and under-worlds (hells) and the belief in the efficacy of properly conducted rituals.

In shamanic cultures the human being is not at the centre of the universe, but rather a part of a larger physical and spiritual context, comprising a complex web of interrelationships. Moreover, the visible universe is but a part of a more significant unseen reality which is governed by dualistic forces, manifesting in either complementary or antithetical forms - for example as positive/negative, male/female, or as good/evil. Thus, the shamanic perspective is relativist rather than absolutist. To understand anything one must understand its relationships. There is no shape to a tree apart from its relationship to gravity and wind; no colour apart from sunlight, no scent apart from earth, wind and water. A tree, therefore, is an event centre, demarcating an extensive field of interrelationships.

Within this cultural tradition, the shaman serves as mediator of the forces of the physical and spiritual realms, functioning as guardian of fertility and replenisher of species, as healer, sage, or guide for the soul of the dead on its journey in the afterlife. Shamans must activate their powers by ritual preparation, fast, posture, trance, the ingesting of powerful psychotropic substances and power songs. Once empowered, a shaman may engage in soul-travelling, shape-shifting, divining the cause of illness, curing the sick, divining the future, altering the weather, or maintaining the fertility of the biosphere. Such shamans also communicate with a variety of spirit entities that control the local ecology. With respect to human behaviour, the shamanic ideal is not perfection but rather a state of inner harmony, the human correlative of social, psychological, and ecological balance. Many forms of illness are believed to result from personal, group, or cultural dissonance and imbalance.

PABLO AMARINGO, Arcoiris - Rainbow Vision, 1998, Acrylic on Paper, 52 x 72.5 c m

FRANCISCO MONTES SHUNA , El Origen d e la Ayahuasca y la Chacruna -The Origin of Ayahuasca a n d Chacruna, 1998, Natural Pigments on Bark, 51 x 49 c m

The shaman uses art like that on show in Inner Visions as a means of mediation between the forces of the psyche, the natural world, and the realm of spirits. This art not only codifies and reinforces essential shamanic concepts such as harmony and balance, it gives that which is hidden perceptible form in order to harness and manipulate the spiritual and environmental energies.

Inner Visions: Artists of the Peruvian Amazon is a visual odyssey through the South American mindscape as perceived by three contemporary, mestizo, Peruvian artists, each of whom has been heavily influenced by the region's shamanic traditions. Not surprisingly, both the Pre-Columbian and historic shamanic art of the Peruvian region reflect their cultural and environmental surroundings. The iconographic repertoire is rich in tropical forest imagery such as jaguars, boas, anacondas, colourful birds, plants and other denizens of the forest, waters and sky. The art of Pablo Amaringo, himself a former shamanic practitioner, introduces us to the energetics of the tropical forest, communicating through colour, line and form some of the negative and positive forces of the invisible realms. Amaringo's works are animated with intricate forms and brilliant colours; moving reflections of his personal visions that blend purely neotropical mindscapes with elements influenced by esoteric cultural traditions from around the world.

Francisco Montes Shuha is a practicing vegetalisto and self-taught artist. His work, employing natural pigments on bark, reflects his focus on the plant life of the Amazon forest and the role it plays in the life of the local vegetalistas whose shamanic powers are largely obtained from plants. His works are intimate perspectives, giving the viewer the feeling of participating in a scene that is at one and the same time both mythical and allegorical.

Yando Rios, himself the son of a famous Amazonian shaman, reflects the shamanic universe filtered through his formal training as an artist. Rios' art focuses on the spiritual essence and hidden wisdom behind such personages as Sunguy, the Master of Water or Amasanga, the Master of the Forest. His backgrounds are intrinsically ecological, reflecting the real and potential fauna of the forest. Rios employs modern media such as clear plastics and acrylics to express a sense of luminosity which reflects a quality and emanation of the inner essence of being, a quality that is in constant dynamic tension with the world of shadow and darkness.

The Inner Visions Exhibition offers insight into the Amazonian universe and the underlying shamanic traditions which give it form. It reflects three interwoven pathways exploring an indigenous view of the nature of nature.

Armand J. Labbe, 1999

(Armand J, Labbe is Director of Research and Collections at the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, California and Lecturer in Anthropology at California State University, Fullerton.)

YANDO RIOS, Master of Water and Yacu-Mama (detail), 1999, Mixed Media, 75 x 70 cm

D e s i g n e d by E l i sabeth L a l o u s c h e k • Pr inted by A r n i c a F ine Art Print Ltd Pub l i shed by the O c t o b e r G a l l e r y , 1999 • ISBN 1 899542 14 0

The exhibition Inner Visions: Artists of the Peruvian Amazon is a c c o m p a n i e d by an exhibition of historic photographs of the Co lombian Amazon

by the renowned ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes, presented in col laborat ion with Synergetic Press.

The exhibitions are supported by the London Arts Board, Visiting Arts a n d the Embassy of Peru.

The October Gallery is supported by the National Lottery through the Arts Counci l of England a n d receives funding from London Boroughs Grants.

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The October Gallery Education Department is supported by Marks & Spencer a n d the Save a n d Prosper Educational Trust.

The October Gallery is extremely thankful for the assistance given by:

Luis Eduardo Luna Luis Escalante

A r m a n d J. Labbe Pascal Lacombe

Marlene Dobkin d e Rios Gerard Barriere

Robert Trunz Deborah Snyder

John Allen Richard Evans Schultes

FRANCISCO MONTES SHUNA, El Baile de los Espiritus - The Dance of the Spirits, 1998, Natural Pigment on Bark, 45 x 46 c m

COVER: PABLO AMARINGO Los Renacos en la Cocha - By the Lake, 1998 Acrylic on Paper 46 x 60 cm

Visiting Arts

L O N D O N A R T S B O A R D

This organisat ion receives funding

f r o m London Borough Grants

MARKS & SPENCER