Amõ Numiã

Amõ Numiã is the first solo show by Daiara Tukano at Millan, and it brings together works created specially for the occasion as well as pieces made from 2020 to 2022.

Among these new works is a set of eight large vertical canvases that will be suspended in the exhibition space. With the well-known patterns and vibrant colors of Daiara’s work, they represent giant women, dancing or holding instruments and tools. The title of the exhibition, Amõ Numiã, is a plural word that refers to the women creators, the first women. “These female figures have stories that are rarely told by our people. So their presence in my work of seeking out the female origins of creation is very important”, Daiara explains.

There will also be ink paintings that represent linguistic families of indigenous languages of the Brazilian territory. In them, each language appears as a branch on a tree of great importance in the cosmovision of each people.

In addition to the new paintings, the show brings together works created between 2020 and 2022. Among them, Pamuri Yukese (2020) — an 8-meter wide canvas that presents the Canoe-snake, an image present in the Tukano people’s tradition that recounts the history of humanity’s origin, and paintings from the series Hori, presented at the 34th São Paulo Biennial, that are central to Daiara’s thought and practice. She explains that Hori is a word from the Dahseyé language (Tukano) that designates the “mirações” the visions achieved through the Kahpi (ayahuasca), which is the medicine of origin of all the knowledge, history, language, songs, and drawings of the Tukano culture. Hori is the vision of the transformation of the universe and of thought, and also refers to the light and color that are beyond matter.

With multiple artistic practices that include mediums such as performance, Daiara Tukano is also active as a researcher in the field of human rights and in the construction of networks to disseminate the artistic production and the knowledge of indigenous peoples. Her work has gained recognition, with appearances in important shows such as Véxoa: We Know, at the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, 2019; 34th São Paulo Biennial, 2021; Brazilian Histories, Masp, São Paulo, SP (2022) and Brasil Futuro: as formas da democracia, Museu Nacional da República, Brasília, 2023.