This exhibition considers the impact of the mind-altering, psychotropic vine – ayahuasca – within Western Amazonian social life.
From the 1950s onwards, drugs were heavily linked with the emergence of the American literary and social movement of the Beat Generation. Artworks produced in North America and Europe speak to the ways in which hallucinogens are transforming the cultural landscape, becoming important for political emancipation, psychotherapy, and personal development.
In many Indigenous societies, hallucinogens continue to play a role in the determination of social position, therapeutic practices, and the maintenance of relationships with ancestors, spirits, and gods. And now, because of the boom in international tourism, increasing amounts of people are now experiencing the effects of ayahuasca.
‘Ayahuasca and Art of the Amazon’ will show that the ritual consumption of ayahuasca is intimately linked to the artistic production of ceramics, textiles, sculpture, painting and photography.
The exhibition focuses on the creativity of Indigenous artists of the Peruvian Amazon’s Shipibo-Konibo community, presenting historical artefacts alongside contemporary works by living artists. It is a rare opportunity to appreciate the breadth of Amazonian art, which ranges from the mesmerising abstract geometrical patterns known as ‘kene’ to figurative portrayals of Amazonian cosmologies and spiritual encounters.
Visitors will also be able to take a virtual ‘trip’ on an ayahuasca journey – guided by a shaman – thanks to a powerful VR experience.
