About the Artist
Santiago Yahuarcani
In his first solo international exhibition
Santiago Yahuarcani (b. 1960, Pebas, Peru) is a self-taught artist and Indigenous activist and leader of the Aimeni clan (White Heron clan) of the Uitoto people.
His mother, Martha López Pinedo, was a descendant of Gregorio López, the only member of the Aimeni clan who migrated from La Chorrera, today part of the Colombian Amazon, to the Ampiyacu River region, now the Peruvian Amazon, as part of the relocation of enslaved Indigenous populations to work in the rubber industry. Yahuarcani's work addresses issues of the documentation of Indigenous knowledge, Amazonian ontologies, and the politics of genocide against their ancestors.
Yahuarcani's work was presented in Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere, as part of the 2024 Venice Biennale, as well as the Toronto Biennial of Art, the Mercosur Biennale, and the 2023 Gwangju Biennale. His works are held by KADIST, Museo de Arte de Lima, Museu de Arte de São Paulo, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Tate, Van Abbemuseum, the Whitworth, The University of Manchester, and others.
His first solo international exhibition titled: The Beginning of Knowledge is 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.
Supported by The Ampersand Foundation.
Exhibition listing
Santiago Yahuarcani: The Beginning of Knowledge
4 July 2025 – 4 January 2026
the Whitworth
Free entry
Image: Santiago Yahuarcani, photographer: Julia Moro, courtesy Crisis Gallery.
