INNER VISIONS

A RUSTS O F THE P E R U VJ A N AMAZON

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 a n d 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 a n d 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 c m
D e s i g n e d b y E l i s a b e t h L a l o u s c h e k Printed b y A r n i c a F i n e Art Print Ltd
P u b l i s h e d b y t h e O c t o b e r G a l l e r y , 1999 ISBN 1 8 9 9 5 4 2 14 0
 The exhibition Inner Visions: Artists of the Peruvian Amazon is a c c o m p a n i e d
by a n exhibition of historic p h o t o g r a p h s of t h e C o l o m b i a n A m a z o n
by t h e r e n o w n e d ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes,
presented in c o l l a b o r a t i o n with Synergetic Press.

The exhibitions are s u p p o r t e d by

the London Arts Board, Visiting Arts a n d t h e Embassy of Peru.

The O c t o b e r Gallery is s u p p o r t e d by t h e National Lottery through t h e Arts Council of England

a n d receives funding from London Boroughs Grants.
j

The O c t o b e r Gallery Education D e p a r t m e n t is s u p p o r t e d by Marks & Spencer

a n d t h e Save a n d Prosper Educational Trust.
The O c t o b e r Gallery is extremely thankful for t h e assistance given by:
Luis Eduardo Luna
Luis Escalante
A r m a n d J. L a b b e
Pascal L a c o m b e
Marlene Dobkin d e Rios
Gerard Barriere
Robert Trunz
D e b o r a h Snyder
John Allen
Richard Evans Schultes

FRANCISCO MONTES SHUNA, El Baile d e 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

LONDON
ARTS BOARD

T h i s o r g a n i s a t i o n receives f u n d i n g
f r o m London Borough Grants

MARKS & SPENCER