Page 59 - Tropic Magazine Issue 37

TROPIC • ARTS

Age-old

knowledge

EXHIBITIONS
Cairns Art Gallery’s latest
exhibition explores the tropical
jungles of the Amazon.
Words: Annabel Bowles 1
It may surprise most that Amazon soil Growing up in the Muinane community
is not highly fertile. Over millennia, near the headwaters of the Cahuinari
Indigenous communities have practiced River in the Colombian Amazon,
‘chagra’ to rejuvenate soils and ensure Rodríguez was taught plant knowledge
food supply. The process sees a patch by his uncle who was a sabedor
of dense jungle cleared by controlled (man of knowledge). Rodríguez then
burning, which mixes ash and decaying became el nombrador de plantas (the
matter with the soil. This, combined with namer of plants), guiding scientists
better access to sunlight, creates ideal through the tropical rainforest in the ‘80s.
conditions for cultivated crops to grow. In the following decade the Colombian
Chagra is eventually repeated elsewhere, armed conflict and the exploitation of
allowing the jungle to recuperate. natural resources displaced Rodríguez
It’s this knowledge that features in the and his family, forcing them to move to
works of Abel Rodríguez (Mogaje Guihu), the nation’s capital, Bogota.
an Elder from the Colombian Amazon It was there where Rodríguez began 2
jungle, who, late in life, learned to draw translating his inherited knowledge
to record ancestral wisdom entrusted to into drawings.
him by his community. Showing in Cairns this spring, Director Skywhales:
Andrea Churcher said the Gallery is Every Heart Sings
excited to host Rodríguez’ collection,
Images from the Flooded Rainforest, which 3 SEPTEMBER
came out of the 23rd Biennale of Sydney – They’ve intrigued, thrilled and
the largest exhibition of its kind even repulsed audiences across
in Australia. the world, and this September,
“Titled rīvus, the 23rd Biennale of Sydney it’s time for Patricia Picinini’s
extends international narratives about colossal Skywhale family to
ways in which dynamic wetlands, rivers, take flight over the tropics.
and other saltwater and freshwater At dawn on the first Saturday
ecosystems operate as dynamic living of spring, Skywhale and
systems with varying degrees of political Skywhalepapa will launch
agency,” Ms Churcher said. from the Cairns Showgrounds
“Taking as its premise that Indigenous and float for a few hours
knowledge systems have long understood over Cairns. The free event is
non-human entities as living ancestral presented by Cairns Art Gallery,
beings with a right to life that must be in partnership with Cairns
protected, the question now is: Festival, and is open
what might they say? to all. Come armed with a picnic
“Through his deep cultural knowledge
1. Abel Rodríguez (Mogaje Guihu), rug and a coffee as you watch
Ciclo anual del bosque de la vega, 2009-10 and his extraordinary body of works, the magic unfold. Bookings are
ink, graphite, and watercolor on paper, Rodríguez has found a way to preserve essential via the Cairns Art
50 x 70 cm Courtesy Tropenbos International, his legacy by drawing his knowledge.
Colombia Gallery website.
2. Patricia Piccinini, Skywhalepapa, 2020 “In so doing his works have become an
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra ancestral treasure, a gift from the
commissioned with the assistance of The Balnaves jungle to this globalised and
Foundation 2019 purchased 2020 MORE: cairnsartgallery.com.au
© Patricia Piccinini homogenised world.”

59 • tropicnow.com.au