Sunday, 25th September 2011 from 10.00 - 18.00

On the occasion of the exhibiton ORINOCO, Indians of the Amazon Rainforest, Slovene Ethnographic Museum in cooperation with Arte Amazonia from Vienna.

Open doors day: Free admission

PROGRAMME

10.00 - 17.00 Cosmic Anaconda, an art instalation of Yanomami baskets
17.00 Opening ceremony
Leah in Heiko Dittmer, Arte Amazonia: Cosmic Anakonda, the symbol of indigenous knowledge and the launch of the international art project AMAZONIA-R-EVOLUTION
10.00 - 18.00 Rainforest Fair by Arte Amazonia
Handicrafts from Latin America.
11.00 & 16.00 Muzakonda, workshops for children
11.00 & 16.00 Guided tours around the exhibition ORINOCO
10.00 - 17.00 Films: Yasuni & Woven Songs of the Amazon

Welcome to SEM!

The Cosmic Anaconda
is a 25 meter sculpture installation designed exclusively from 150+ authentic Yanomami baskets representing the indigenous spirit and their ancient knowledge. Encompassing a three dimensional space, it is the manifestation of the mythological being from their cosmology, the Cosmic Anaconda. The snake is a symbol for the "ancient knowledge" of the natural path which has sustained indigenous peoples in ecological harmony. Each coil is uniquely painted with geometric forms encompassing the cultural consciousness with a history dating back nearly 10,000 years. The Cosmic Anaconda takes the viewer into the heart of the Amazonian world, where the indigenous people must draw on the strength of their ancient knowledge, to preserve their ancient symbols, myths and magic.

ARTE AMAZONIA
provides a global platform for the indigenous people who inhabit the Amazon. Through art we give a voice to inspire the world to take a second look at the conditions these cultures are confronting today. We present authentic indigenous works with various forms of contemporary Amazon Art from around the world including paintings, photographs, sculptures, installations, and films. Our goal is to present Amazon Art as a collective movement directed to the preservation of their way of life. In addition we seek alliance, with individuals and groups working with indigenous communities to unify and to give value to their ways of life including their sustainable relationship to the environment.
www.arte-amazonia.com

Leah & Heiko Dittmer give a voice through art to the indigenous cultures of the Amazon. By employing rainforest materials & authentic indigenous arts combined with contemporary elements of design, their work makes ancient knowledge of indigenous cultures accessible to the western mind by focusing on the wisdom of their traditional beliefs, myths and magic.

AMAZONIA-R-EVOLUTION
is a Global Amazonia Art Contest directed to inspire the world to focus on the beauty and future of the Amazonia. 2012 will be the year of change, we are calling all artists and visionaries to come together to raise the awareness of the most diverse and biggest rainforest in the world and be part of the change in a creative way!
www.amazonia-r-evolution.com

Yasuni Film: Two Seconds of Life
Directed by Leonardo Wild, Intangible Zone Production
Sound Engineer, Film Score Composer: Eric Spitzer-Marlyn
Ecuador/USA/Austria 2010, 90 min, documentary
This is a creative documentary accompanied with a music journey through Ecuador's proposal to "leave the oil in the ground". This film provides background information, amazing pictures of the Amazon rainforest and indigenous tribes, but also the shocking truth about oil pollution and destruction of Ecuador's rainforest over the past decades. You'll hear what scientists, politicians, indigenous people and oil company representatives think about Ecuador's proposal and the planet's future in the post-fossil era.
http://www.yasuni-film.com/

Woven Songs of the Amazon
54 minutue, 2007 Producer Anna Stevens, Green Spider Films

Documentary film about the ancient Shipibo tradition of song patterns. The Shipibo are one of fourteen indigenous tribes living deep within the Amazon basin of Peru. Throughout history they have recorded their songs, or Icaros, in a unique system of elaborate geometric designs that correlate and interact directly with the natural world which appear on everything from their textiles to their pottery, jewellery, and even body art. Woven Songs of the Amazon tells the story of this rich, colourful and ancient cultural tradition that is rapidly being lost, and the efforts by one family to preserve, protect and keep the vast knowledge of the Icaros and the song patterns alive. The film focuses on Herlinda, a Shipibo elder, carrier of the song pattern tradition and the matriarch of her village. Through interviews, demonstrations, personal accounts, Shipibo mythology, the film shows the origin of the song patterns, what they are, how they are used, and the Shipibos struggle in preserving it and passing it down to the younger generations as the western world continually encroaches, threatening their culture.

The sound track of Woven Songs of the Amazon was recorded by Barret Martin, who is an American drummer, composer, producer, writer and Zen artist who has performed around the world with several rock & jazz groups from around the world. In 2004, he spent time in the Peruvian rainforest where he recorded a collection of the healing icaros of the Shipibo Shamans, featuring Herlinda Augustine & Enrique Sinure.
Currently, he is still making music and adjunct professor of music at Antioch University in Seattle, where he teaches classes on indigenous music, music as socio-political commentary, and music as spiritual expression. Soundtrack

Arte Amazonia invitation leaflet

Arte Amazonia brochure