On March 6–9, 2015 an assembly of 34 pajés, 20 professors, and 15 artisans took place in Aldeia Novo Natal, a village located on the Jordão river in the Brazilian State of Acre. The representatives of all the 32 Huni Kuin villages accepted Ernesto Neto’s invitation to participate collaboratively in the joint exhibition project at TBA21 in Vienna.

The exhibition Aru Kuxipa | Sacred Secret brings to life age-old and venerated shamanic spiritual knowledge and healing rituals of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon and weaves together anthropology, ecology, education, and contemporary forms of expression to create distinctive experiences and interrogate our present moment. It is an exhibition about healing, ritual, knowledge but more so about collaboration and relationships.

“For the Huni Kuin, healing is about reformulating the relationship to all other entities. Subjects cannot exist alone. They only come to exist in relations, and it is by the relations that people gain their identities and personhood.” (Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen)

The Assembleia of the Huni Kuin is a communal process of decision making for imminent questions affecting the whole people. It is also a festive moment of celebration sealing the sacred bond between the participants. And it is the inauguration of the exhibition Aru Kuxipa | Sacred Secret at TBA21-Augarten. Haux!