Review: Claudia Andujar’s The Yanomami Struggle

(Image courtesy of Elle Summers)

28th June 2021

By Elle Summers

This summer, running from the 17th of June to the 29th of August, the Barbican Centre is hosting ‘The Yanomami Struggle’ photography exhibition by Claudia Andujar, an exhibit highlighting the hardships faced by the Yanomami tribe due to the introduction of new diseases to their homeland by the western world. These photographs, and the message they possess is highly important, especially at the moment with the current global struggle against Covid-19.

(Image courtesy of Elle Summers)

Claudia Andujar was born on the 12th of June 1931, in Switzerland to a Jewish family. Following German military occupation, her family were forced to separate, with many being transported to concentration camps, whilst Claudia and her mother fled the country. Claudia’s mother was pivotal in initially bringing her to Brazil in order to be reunited, from here Claudia made her first trip to photograph the Karajá Indigenous people. After spending many years travelling and working with mediums of journalism and photojournalism, Andujar set off on her final assignment, photographing the Yanomami tribe for the first time. After being awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Foundation grant, Andujar made the first of many trips to the Catrimani River basin in the northern Brazilian Amazon, where she developed most of her photographic work with the Yanomami.

The Barbican exhibit itself is laid out in chronological order depicting a timeline of Andujar’s work. Curator Thyago Nogueira explained how, to begin with, when she first headed to Brazil, Andujar’s photographs were just documenting the daily lives of the tribe, showing them building homes, hunting and taking part in different rituals. Yet, as Andujar became more involved with the tribe, she came to love and cherish them as individuals, paralleled through a shift in her work, as she became more intent on depicting their struggle, imploring others to help them.

(Image courtesy of Elle Summers)

The rounded outer wall of The Curve space in the Barbican Centre helps provide a large contrast between the light and dark within the room. Coupled with the black and white photographs, this adds to the sombre tone of the exhibit. Throughout, there are photos hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room, making the photography more immersive as the audience have to physically weave within the photos, and thus within the very culture of the tribe. This direct inclusion of the audience makes the reality of the hardship the tribe has faced impossible to ignore.

(Image courtesy of Elle Summers)

When asking others to consider their first impressions of the exhibit, Tom Rattner of the University of Bristol’s Epigram reflected upon the ‘sense of learning and the sense of vulnerability’ which the photographs portray. ‘You start by seeing shots of incredibly passive activities, ones anyone can do without interference, yet slowly and surely you start to see the western encroachment and the detriments that brings.’

It is interesting to consider how the photographs depict the appearance of the tribe physically changing over time, paralleling the shift in Andujar’s own perception of them. The most obvious way this change occurs is through the westernisation of the clothing style, with the tribe wearing wrist watches, shorts and t-shirts instead of traditional tribe attire and paint.

(Image courtesy of Elle Summers)

Halfway through the exhibition, the theme of the photography shifts, mirroring how Andujar became more politically aware of the tribe’s struggle. The inclusion of the vaccination programme carried out in order to save the tribe and the physical representation of individuals through their portraits for their medical records, highly resonates with the pandemic we are facing today. As the interconnected nature of the globe spread the Covid-19 virus rapidly around the world, the West can begin to appreciate how unknown diseases brought in by others can truly impact a different culture who may not have the same immunity. The world collectively is still struggling against the Coronavirus, mirroring the hardships that the Yanomami tribe have been facing for decades, making Andujar’s work really poignant today.

(Image courtesy of Elle Summers)

The Yanomami tribe believe that if they leave anything physical in the living world, their spirit will not be at peace, yet they have consented to Andujar’s photographs being displayed. This act truly reflects how important this photography exhibit is, as they truly feel others need to see their struggle, making their plea an obvious a cry for help.

The exhibition concludes with a short film hosted in The Pit in the Barbican Centre. Here, different photographs have been paired with background music. This parallels the use of film within the exhibit itself, with both examples bringing the images to life. The film experience is an interesting way to end the exhibit as it could be argued that the photographs speak enough for themselves without the addition of highly melodramatic music. Yet others may view it in the form of a summary, making Andujar’s message of struggle remain with the audience upon leaving the Centre.

(Image courtesy of Elle Summers)

If you have the opportunity to visit this exhibit in the Barbican Centre this summer, I would highly recommend it. Running until the 29th of August 2021, in London, entrance to the exhibit will cost £12 for a student ticket. Never in our lifetime has the western population been so acutely aware of the struggle diseases can bring to different cultures, making Andujar’s message of the hardships of the Yanomami Struggle timeless.