Protectors of the Amazon - WWF
Series of portraits for WWF UK
2020
At the end of last year, figures showed the level of destruction in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest had surged to a 12-year high. This destruction is causing immense suffering to the Amazon’s indigenous people, whose land is being stolen and destroyed.
Through a series of new artworks featuring the Uru Eu Wau Wau Indigenous People, British artist Nick Gentry has helped us to put a spotlight on the amazing connection Indigenous People have with the forest, and the destruction being done to their home.
“When I think of the Amazon, I can’t help but dwell on all the indigenous peoples who live there, and how their lands are being stolen and destroyed. They are the guardians of the rainforest and know how to best protect and conserve it – and yet their knowledge and wisdom is being ignored.
“WWF supplied me with the incredible photographs and backstories of these people. They are powerful and emotive images in their own right, so all I needed to do was simply show that the people are united as one with the land that they live on. By merging them I wanted to show that there is ancient wisdom and resilience in both the people and the land, but also a ghostly vulnerability. More than ever, we need to stand with the Amazon’s people and listen to their knowledge and wisdom.”
WWF would like to thank the Kanindé Ethno-Environmental Defense Association & the Association of the Indigenous People Uru-eu-wau-wau. Without them this work wouldn't have been possible, and was carried out with the consent & collaboration of the indigenous people and FUNAI.
