Santiago Yahuarcani
The Beginning of Knowledge
The first international solo exhibition of works by Santiago Yahuarcani – artist, Indigenous activist and leader of the Aimeni (White Heron) clan of the Uitoto people.
“My work is rooted in the legacy of my ancestors, those who saw the universe not as something to conquer, but to revere. To them, the land was more than soil and stone. So much so they called it our mother, who is indeed sacred and alive.” – Santiago Yahuarcani
Working from Pebas, a remote town in northern Peru, Santiago Yahuarcani creates large-scale, narrative-rich paintings using natural dyes on llanchama — a bark cloth made from the ojé tree native to the Amazon. Yahuarcani’s work exists outside of Western art history, instead harnessing ancestral memory, the sacred knowledge of medicinal plants, and the sounds of the jungle, to create artworks that are urgent acts of education and resistance.
The Beginning of Knowledge, Yahuarcani’s first international solo exhibition, brings together key works from 2010 to the present day, showcasing his profound visual storytelling over the last fifteen years. From portrayals of Uitoto origin stories to memories of the enslavement of the Uitoto people during the Putumayo genocide (1879-1912), the works honour and preserve intergenerational legacies and invite us to consider how Indigenous knowledge can shape a more just and interconnected future.
Presented by the Whitworth as part of the 2025 Manchester International Festival, After the premiere at the Whitworth, the exhibition will tour to Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, São Paulo and Museo Universitario del Chopo, UNAM, Mexico City in 2026 and 2027.
Curated by Prof. Sook-Kyung Lee, Director; Darren Pih, Head of Exhibitions and Collections; and Hannah Vollam, Assistant Curator at the Whitworth; Amanda Carneiro, Curator, Museo de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand; and Miguel A. López, Senior Curator, Museo Universitario Del Chopo, Mexico City.
Supported by The Ampersand Foundation.
Santiago Yahuarcani: The Beginning of Knowledge
4 July 2025 – 4 January 2026
the Whitworth
Free entry
About the artist
Learn more about Santiago Yahuarcani's, background, creative practice and vision.
Exhibition Programme
- Exhibition Preview, Friday 4 July - Free entry, booking is essential
- Artist Talk, Saturday 5 July - Free entry, booking is essential
- Curator led tour with Darren Pih, Thursday 23 October
- Curator led tour with Hannah Vollam, Saturday 15 November
Book your tickets for the FREE events programme at the Whitworth.
Publication
The exhibition is accompanied by an extensively illustrated catalogue, with new texts on Yahuarcani’s practice by Amanda Carneiro, Miguel A. López, Darren Pih, and Pablo José Ramírez and an intergenerational conversation between Santiago Yahuarcani and his artist son Rember Yahuarcani.
- Available to purchase from the Whitworth Shop from 4 July 2025.
Press release
Discover more about the artist and exhibition at the Whitworth this summer, Santiago Yahuarcani: The Beginning of Knowledge.
- Read the full press release
Image: Santiago Yahuarcani, Sin título (Untitled) 2021, natural pigments and acrylic on llanchama, 60 x 87 cm. © Santiago Yahuarcani. Photo: CRISIS Gallery
