Artist talk - Rember Yahuarcani

Rember Yahuarcani: The myths are the rivers of memory 

In this talk, artist, writer, activist, and curator Rember Yahuarcani joins curator Giuliana Borea to discuss his artistic practice and the central role that mythology plays within it. Yahuarcani will reflect on how myths serve not only as sources of his creative inspiration, but also as moral compasses, guiding future actions and shaping visions of care, responsibility, and resistance.

This conversation takes its title from a quote by Santiago Yahuarcani, which highlights the profound relationship between myths, rivers, and memory. Together, we will explore how Indigenous mythology and art can help us reimagine a more sustainable and interconnected future for the world.

The event is free to attend.

Rember Yahuarcani is an artist, curator, activist and writer who belongs to the Aimenɨ -White Heron- clan of the Uitoto Nation of northern Amazonia in Peru. His artistic practice focuses on exploring the complexities of the Uitoto’s ontologies and the Amazonian worlds urging respect for indigenous life projects and worlds. His work has a wide international circulation. In 2024, Yahuarcani participated in Foreigners Everywhere at the 60th Venice Biennale. His most recent solo shows include, “JUMA. Preservar la memoria. Imaginar el futuro” at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de La Boca–MARCO (2025), and “Here Lives the Origin” at Josh Lilley Gallery in London - gallery that represents him. His curatorial activity includes the exhibition Ite!/ Neno!/ Here! (with G. Borea, 2020), La Canoa: Melodías desde el Río (2023), and Somos Raíces (with I. Lenzi, 2025). 

Giuliana Borea is the director of the Amazonart Project, Senior Lecturer in Latin American Studies at Newcastle University, and an Affiliated Lecturer in Anthropology at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Her research concerns the political economy of contemporary art worlds and their transnational networks; museum theories, politics and practices; place-making and sensory knowledge. Borea has built her career at the intersection of research, teaching, curatorship and cultural policy. She has been Peru’s Director of Museums and Cultural Heritage and Coordinator of the Lima Contemporary Art Museum. Her curatorial work includes The Amazonian Rubber Boom (2023 with E. von der Walde) and Ite, Neno, Here: Responses to Covid-19 (2020 with R. Yahuarcani). She is the author of Configuring the New Lima Art Scene (Routledge, 2021).

This event is part of a wider public programme for . More information about the exhibition and other events can be found here.

All events are free to attend. You are welcome to make a donation or pay as you feel. All money will go to fund the programme.

The project is a collaboration between Newcastle Contemporary Art (NCA), Newcastle University, University of London’s School of Advanced Study, and the Amazonart Project. It has received support from Community Foundation North East, Embassy of Peru in the United Kingdom, Newcastle University - NUCORE Water, HaSS Global, School of Modern Languages - and University of London’s School of Advanced Study. It includes partnerships with Newcastle University Centre for Water and Centre for Latin America and the Caribbean, University of London, SAS’s Environmental Humanities Research Hub, Tyne Rivers Trust and UK Environment Agency.

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