A posthumous exhibition honouring Indigenous knowledge, ecological memory, and the living intelligence of the Amazon
Installation view of ‘Abel Rodríguez — Mogaje Guihu: The Tree of Life and Abundance’ at MASP. Courtesy of MASP.
The Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP) opened ‘Abel Rodríguez — Mogaje Guihu: The Tree of Life and Abundance’ on 10 October 2025, marking the artist’s first posthumous solo exhibition. On view until 5 April 2026, the exhibition brings together 65 drawings produced between 2006 and 2025, offering a profound meditation on ecology, memory, and Indigenous knowledge systems rooted in the Colombian Amazon.
Abel Rodríguez (1941–2025), known by his Indigenous name Mogaje Guihu, meaning “bright hawk feather,” was born into the Nonuya and Muinane communities. A member of the Gavilán clan, Rodríguez was trained from childhood as a sabedor—a bearer and transmitter of ancestral botanical knowledge. His drawings, created from memory rather than direct observation, stand as both artistic works and acts of cultural preservation.
From Displacement to Drawing
In the 1990s, Rodríguez was forced to flee his homeland due to armed conflict in the Amazon region, relocating to Bogotá. There, through contact with the Dutch foundation Tropenbos, he began to translate his extensive ecological knowledge into drawing as a means of documentation and transmission. What began as a practical response to displacement gradually evolved into a deeply influential artistic practice.
Over time, Rodríguez’s work gained international recognition, positioning him as one of the most significant contemporary Latin American artists. Yet his drawings consistently resisted categorisation as illustration alone. Instead, they operate as complex visual systems where scientific observation, spiritual knowledge, and cultural memory converge.
Drawing the Forest as a Living System
Rodríguez’s drawings meticulously map the relationships between plant species, animals, cycles of growth, and the passage of time. Leaves, roots, fruits, and canopies are rendered with extraordinary precision, accompanied by annotations describing the symbolic and practical uses of plants. These works record not only what the forest looks like, but how it functions as an interconnected, living system.
Central to the exhibition is the recurring motif of the “tree of life and abundance,” which lends the exhibition its title. In Nonuya and Muinane cosmology, this primordial tree is understood as the origin of all beings and the matrix of the forest itself. The myth recounts how humans and non-humans learn to distinguish edible from poisonous fruits, passing through conflict before arriving at harmony—an ecological worldview grounded in balance, responsibility, and coexistence.
Exhibition Structure and Curatorial Framework
The exhibition is organised into four thematic sections: mythological trees, botanical drawings, cycles, and integrated nature. Together, these sections trace the conceptual and visual foundations of Rodríguez’s practice, foregrounding his understanding of nature as inseparable from culture, time, and collective survival.
Curated by Adriano Pedrosa, MASP’s artistic director, and assistant curator Leandro Muniz, the exhibition forms part of MASP’s broader 2025–2026 programme dedicated to Histories of Ecology. This thematic focus brings together monographic and group exhibitions, video works, and research-based projects that explore ecological questions through artistic, social, and political lenses.
Ecology, Sustainability, and Institutional Commitment
The exhibition also aligns with MASP’s ongoing institutional commitment to sustainability. Since 2019, the museum has maintained a sustainability working group and implemented initiatives including decarbonisation strategies, renewable energy procurement, and comprehensive waste management programmes. These efforts are further supported by the opening of the Pietro Maria Bardi building, which has received LEED certification for its environmentally responsible design.
Reclaiming Knowledge Through Art
‘Abel Rodríguez — Mogaje Guihu: The Tree of Life and Abundance’ stands as a testament to the power of Indigenous knowledge systems and their relevance within contemporary global discourse. Through drawing, Rodríguez preserved a way of seeing the world in which ecology is not abstract, but lived, relational, and ethical.
The exhibition remains on view at MASP until 5 April 2026. For mor einformation, please visit MASP.
