Joseca Mokahesi was born in the Brazilian Amazon and lives in the Watoriki (windy mountain range) community, located in the Yanomami Indigenous lands. Since the early 2000s, the artist has dedicated himself to drawing characters, scenes, and landscapes from his people’s universe. Joseca Mokahesi’s drawings present myths and shamanistic chants, as well as moments from his people’s day-to-day existence, accompanied by description–titles in the Yanomami language that serve an explanatory function. A large portion of the characters depicted by the artist are the xapiri, spirits left by Omama – the Yanomami creation deity – to aid shamans in their tasks. When summoned, they descend and manifest in the shamans’ bodies. Yamanaioma, the bee’s feminine spirit, is depicted as a human figure who, when walking upon the land, sees to it that food grows well. Hawahiri, in turn, is drawn as a tree – a chestnut tree – emerging from a mouth. The face and body paints that appear in Joseca’s drawings reference the first humanity, the yarori pë.
This is the first time the work of Joseca Mokahesi Yanomami is presented at Biennale Arte.
—David Ribeiro
