15世紀，第一批到亞馬遜河旅行的歐洲人死于疾病、饑餓和與當地人的對抗之中。西班牙編年史學家加斯帕·德·卡瓦哈爾（Gaspar de Carvajal）在第一次穿越亞馬遜的旅行中，將其形容為“綠色地獄”。他去世時年僅35歲。
亞馬遜河如水蛇一般從南美洲蜿蜒而過，成千上萬條支流中散布著村鎮，在21世紀仍然保持著古老的生活方式。一些人不能融入所謂的“文明”之中，因而被稱為“未接觸部落”。他們生活在叢林之中，避免受到任何外來接觸。
10000年前，維托托人占據了如今位于哥倫比亞的亞馬遜河支流，包括伊加拉巴拉那河（Igaraparaná River）、卡克塔河（Caquetá River）、卡維納里河（Cahuinarí River）和普圖馬約河（Putumayo River）之間的領土。在1900到1918年間，9萬余名維托托人在“橡膠熱”或“白金熱”中被橡膠商人殺害。維托托人在暴力中被當作奴隸收集巴西橡膠樹的樹脂。經過人工處理后，將樹脂儲存并送往歐洲生產輪胎等不同產品。殖民者、酷刑、屠殺、強迫賣淫、奴役、殘疾和麻疹等新疾病的到來，使維托托族人口從7000人銳減至1920人。從1932到1933年，哥倫比亞和秘魯之間的沖突導致維托托人被迫遷徙至亞馬遜河的其他地方，包括秘魯、厄瓜多爾、哥倫比亞和巴西，如今人口估計為1500人。
展覽“亞馬遜雨林的神靈”，呈現了統治維托托人和白鷺家族的重要人物和神靈。我們可以看到蜂鳥：月亮之子，眾神的使者和火的守護者；阿伊瑪（Aima）：薩滿祭司，可以變化為美洲虎保護家人，打敗敵人；以及彩虹女神：萬物之初，天空墜落到大地上，毀滅了一切新生命。造物主之父布伊納伊瑪（Moó Buinaima）請求彩虹女神幫忙支撐起天空，但是她拒絕了；布伊納伊瑪便派布伊納雷瑪（Buinairema），住在水中的煙草守護者，將她帶到這個世界。布伊納雷瑪和他的戰士們開始長途跋涉，穿越水域來到彩虹的領土，但是她戰勝了布伊納雷瑪的勇士，并將他囚禁起來。為了換取生命，他將自己的心變成黃晶果，作為禮物送給了彩虹女神。彩虹女神吃下果實，沉入了睡夢之中。
從20世紀開始，人類學家、語言學家、歷史學家和民族學家成為土著民族的代言和“知識的翻譯者”。我們希望在本世紀中，我們將能夠再次發聲，從而將祖先留給我們的知識傳承下去。
倫貝爾·亞華卡尼
北京上苑藝術館，2018年10月19日
Gods of the Amazon
In the 15th century, the first Europeans who traveled to the Amazon River died from disease, starvation, and confrontation with the natives. Gaspar de Carvajal, Spanish chronicler who was in the first trip through the Amazon, described it as the "Green Hell". He died at the Age of 35.
The Amazon River runs along the South America like a water snake, in the hundreds of thousands of tributaries there are settled towns that still maintain their old ways of life in the 21st century. Dozens of these people cannot be part of the so-called "civilization", so they are known as the "uncontacted", living in the middle of the jungle and being protected from any alien contact.
10,000 years ago, the Uitotos occupied the territories between Igaraparaná River, Caquetá River, Cahuinarí River and Putumayo River, the tributaries of the Amazon River currently in Colombia. Between 1900 and 1918, more than 90,000 Uitotos were killed by patrons of rubber widely known as "Rubber Fever” or “White Gold Fever". The Uitotos were taken as slaves in violence to collect the resin of Hevea brasiliensis. After manual processing, the resin was stored and then sent to Europe for making different products such as tyre. The arrival of the colonizers, torture, massacres, forced prostitution, slavery, mutilation and new diseases such as measles, significantly reduced the decimated population from 7000 to 1920. From 1932 to 1933, the subsequent conflict between Colombia and Peru resulted in forced mass migration of the Uitotos to other places of the Amazon, including Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil, and its population is estimated to be 1500.
The exhibition “Gods of the Amazon”, is a selection of important characters and mythological beings who govern the Nation Uitoto and the Clan of White Heron. We can find the hummingbird: The Son of Moon, messenger of the gods and protector of the fire; the mighty Aima: a Shaman who is transformed into a Jaguar to protect his family and defeat their enemies; the Rainbow Woman: in the beginning, the Sky fell to the earth, crushing and killing every new living being. Our Father of Creator Moó Buinaima, called Rainbow Woman for support to hold the sky, but she refused; he then sent Buinairema, Guardian of the Tobacco who lived in the water, to bring her to this world. Buinairema and his warriors started a long trip through the country of water to the territories of the Rainbow, but she overcame Buinairema’s fierce warriors and took him prisoner. In exchange for his life, he transformed his heart into the fruit of caimito and gave it to Rainbow as a gift. The Rainbow took the fruit and submerged into a deep sleep.
From the 20 th century, the voice of indigenous peoples was assumed by anthropologists, linguists, historians and ethnographers who became the “translators of our knowledge ". We seek and want that voice will be returned to us in this century so that we can pass on the knowledge that our ancestors have left us.
Rember Yahuarcani
Shangyuan, Beijing/19 de octubre de 2018
