Current exhibition: Visions from the Amazon
Free exhibition at Peltz Gallery
43 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PD
14 February - 9 April 2025
Weekdays 10am-8pm
Opening reception: Thursday 13 February, 6-8pm - Book tickets for the reception.
See below for associated events.
The Amazon rainforest is as much a site of abundance as it is a site of destruction and resource-related disputes. Only in Brazil, it spans around 4.2 million square kilometers, covering 49% of the country’s territory, and is characterised by complex hydrological, geological, and ecological environments that provide a home to around 22 million people, from urban centres to isolated Indigenous settlements. The Amazon is also a complex system in which humans and more-than-human entities coexist, shaping through their combined agency the art produced in the region.
Visions from the Amazon focuses on more-than-human elements of the forest - trees, light, and water. Stemming from the doctoral research of Patricia Bonchristiano, and developed in collaboration with Erika Zerwes and Peltz Gallery, the exhibition brings together photography, painting and film as a visual exploration of entanglements between artistic production and the living and non-living inhabitants of the forest.
In the past decades Claudia Andujar’s images of Indigenous communities and her work as an environmental activist have brought global attention to the region. Visions from the Amazon features her photographs alongside artworks by emerging and lesser-known artists, showcasing the paintings of rubber tapper Hélio Melo; artworks and photographs by Indigenous artists Denilson Baniwa and Tayná Satere; and photographs and films by Paula Sampaio, Luciana Magno and Nay Jinknss, who live in the Amazon’s urban areas, together with the images of São Paulo-based Rosa Gauditano. Their art articulates the intricate relationships between human and more-than-human elements in the forest, revealing the interconnected and multifaceted nature of the region as well as the importance that ecological activism has come to play in creative practice. Alongside the efforts of Indigenous communities, activist groups, and international organisations, these images contribute towards raising environmental and social awareness about the importance of defending and protecting forest life.
With special thanks to Peltz Gallery staff and to those who kindly agreed to lend their works for the exhibition, including private collectors and the artists Paula Sampaio, Rosa Gauditano, Luciana Magno, Tayná Satere and the late Jorge Nazaré.
Programme of events
Curator Tours
Join the curators for a visit to the exhibition. They will share their perspectives, discuss the artworks, and provide a deeper understanding of the themes and stories behind the pieces.
- Thursday 20 February
- Thursday 13 March, with guest scholar Jamille Pinheiro Dias (Director of the Centre for Latin American & Caribbean Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London)
- Thursday 20 March
- All tours are 5-6pm
Book tickets for our Curator Tours
Artists in Conversation: Exploring Visions from the Amazon
Join us for an online discussion featuring photographers Tayná Satere and Rosa Gauditano, whose works are showcased in the exhibition Visions from the Amazon. The artists will discuss their creative processes and the themes that underlie their practice. Professor Luciana Martins (Birkbeck), a renowned scholar on Amazonian material and visual cultures, will lead the conversation, drawing connections between the artworks and the broader cultural and historical contexts. The event will have simultaneous interpretation.
- Monday 10 March
- 5-7pm
- Online event in Portuguese with live interpretation to English
Book tickets for Artists in Conversation: Exploring Visions from the Amazon
Please be aware that to access this event you will be redirected to Zoom, which is outside the Birkbeck online environment. Zoom will process your personal data in accordance with their privacy policies.