Amazons The ancestral future: A journey into the heart of the jungle

Since yesterday, the CCCB has become a window into the Amazon with the opening of the new exhibition 'Amazons. The ancestral future', a proposal that brings us closer to one of the most complex and richest ecosystems on the planet, the Amazon, from the perspective of their own voices: the indigenous communities that have been part of it for millennia . This show is a visual, auditory and sensory experience that takes us away from what words can describe. However, it does so with a radically different look than what history has offered us so far.

What do we really know about this territory? Beyond the Amazon, it is not just a forest or a country, but an immense territory that stretches across nine countries, where more than thirty million people live spread out in cities and urban towns. Leaving aside the numbers, it is a land of unattainable cultural wealth and irreplaceable biodiversity. In this exhibition, curated by Claudi Carreras , we discover a vision that does not only speak of biodiversity or majestic landscapes, but of the values, science and ancestral knowledge that indigenous communities have woven with the natural environment for millennia.

'A preferida', Luiz Braga (1985)

The very title of this exhibition, Amazons , in the plural, is a declaration of intent: there is no single Amazon, if not various. Each of its rivers, forests and cultures stands in a unique identity. This is one of the great contributions of the exhibition, which refuses to simplify and unify the diversity that defines this region. Instead of offering an exotic or pessimistic vision, a dialogue is opened to connect with the essence of a culture that perhaps today has more to say to us than ever.

The exhibition guides us through the different Amazonian ecosystems and the ways of life and knowledge that flourish there: the smells, sounds and rituals of the communities materialize in a sensory journey that aspires to immerse us in a unique experience. To create this experience, the CCCB has worked closely with Amazonian experts from various fields, such as Jõao Paulo Lima Barreto, a shaman and thinker, and activists such as Eliane Brum. This presence brings authenticity and depth to an exhibition that argues that, in a world in ecological crisis, looking back and retrieving ancient wisdom can be the most revolutionary act there is.

'Amazons. The ancestral future', open to the public until May, also invites us to reflect on the effects of the climate crisis that is already affecting these lands: deforestation, fires and the destruction of the forest due to the exploitation of raw materials. The message is clear: preserving the Amazon means listening to those who know it best, those who have learned to live in harmony with this environment, and who can teach us an alternative way to face the future.

'Amazònies. El futur ancestral' al CCCB.