The awe-inspiring beauty and untamed majesty of the Amazon comes to life in Amazônia, an extraordinary photographic odyssey by internationally acclaimed Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado. Making its highly anticipated Asia-Pacific debut at the National Museum of Singapore from 22 November 2024 to 2 March 2025, this travelling exhibition transports visitors into the heart of one of the world’s greatest ecosystems.

Held a decade after Salgado’s first showing at the National Museum, Genesis (2014), Amazônia continues conversations on the important topic of environmental conservation through this major new body of work, which is a culmination of his decades-long engagement with the Amazon region.

Chung May Khuen, Director of the National Museum of Singapore, said, “The National Museum is proud to bring to Singapore the latest internationally acclaimed exhibition of works by Sebastião Salgado. The Amazon is deeply connected to the world’s climate and affects all of us, even in Singapore. Amid a heightened awareness and urgent call for greater climate action today, we hope that visitors will be inspired by Salgado’s remarkable photos and the exhibition’s message to appreciate and take action to protect our natural world while respecting and learning from the Indigenous peoples who live in, and with, the rainforest.”

The exhibition spotlights critical aspects of the complex ecosystems of the Amazon, such as freshwater archipelagos and “flying rivers”, and presents more than 200 evocative black-and-white photographic prints in addition to slide projections, documenting its vibrant landscapes and the lives of the people who reside within it. Through this visual spectacle that encapsulates the region’s majesty and fragility in equal measure, Salgado hopes that this serves as a poignant call for all to conserve the “lungs of the world”.

Salgado said, “The Amazon rainforest is full of life, and is in itself an important lifeline for our world. The exhibition is a record of what remains of this vast and vulnerable heritage amid an uncertain future. It is our shared responsibility to conserve it and I hope that the exhibition will inspire the community to take action to prevent this exhibition from becoming a testimony of a lost world 50 years from now.”

Tulsi Naidu, CEO Asia Pacific of Zurich Insurance Company Ltd – the main global partner of Amazônia – said, “Zurich’s longstanding global partnership with Sebastião Salgado reflects our commitment to climate action and a sustainable future. Through the Zurich Forest project, launched in 2020 in collaboration with the Salgados, we’ve helped restore parts of the Brazil Atlantic Forest by planting one million trees with Instituto Terra. We are now also supporting Instituto Terra in the acquisition of additional land for nature restoration and the construction of a new, larger nursery. In the Amazônia exhibition, Sebastião Salgado’s powerful photography – beautifully curated by Lélia Wanick Salgado – is a striking reminder of the urgent need to protect the natural world and its communities.”

The exhibition is curated and designed by Salgado’s work and life partner, Lélia Wanick Salgado. It unfolds along two distinct but intertwined lines: the first showcasing breathtaking photography of the Amazon’s naturescapes, and the second of the Indigenous communities living in, and with, the rainforest.

Through the landscape photos, visitors are able to admire the natural wonders and phenomena unique to the Amazon rainforest:
● Aerial Views: The Amazon Seen from Above features sweeping aerial panoramas of immense waterfalls and storm-laden skies.
● Flying Rivers: Watering the Continent captures the Amazon’s unique atmospheric phenomenon where water vapour from trees forms massive aerial rivers even bigger than the Amazon River.
● Tropical Storms: When It Rains in the Rainforest showcases dramatic images of brooding clouds hanging above the landscape.
● Mountains: Unexpected Uplands in the Lowlands portrays Brazil’s mist-draped peaks rising above the rainforest-covered lower slope.
● The Forest: A Source of Fear and Inspiration highlights the duality of the forest, once known as the “Green Hell” but is now seen as an extraordinary natural treasure to be
protected.
● Anavilhanas: Islands in the Stream captures breathtaking images of the archipelago of 350 to 450 islands of every imaginable shape rising from the waters of the Rio Negro.

The second theme of the exhibition spotlights the diverse Indigenous communities in the Amazon. At the heart of the exhibition are three structures modelled after traditional Indigenous homes called ocas. Within this space, visitors can explore 100 striking photographs of the 12 Amazonian communities with whom Salgado engaged, complemented by video interviews with their leaders.

The experience is complemented by an immersive audio experience by French composer Jean-Michel Jarre. The soundscape envelopes visitors in a glorious sensorial experience of the Amazon through a symphony of natural sounds – the rustling of trees, animal calls, bird songs and the gushing of waters from the mountain tops – as well as voices and songs of the communities, drawn from the Museum of Ethnography’s sound archives in Geneva. This journey continues in two projection rooms, where forest landscapes and portraits of Indigenous people are accompanied by soundscapes by Brazilian composers Heitor Villa-Lobos and Rodolfo Stroeter. A dedicated space in the exhibition features the work of Instituto Terra, the reforestation non-governmental organisation founded by the Salgados.

The exhibition also features Amazônia Touch, the first photographic volume specifically designed for blind and visually impaired audiences in partnership with Visio Foundation, an institution dedicated to promoting cultural inclusion of blind and visually impaired persons. Visitors can engage with tactile images rendered on brass plates and complemented by 21 panels made of acrylic resin and natural minerals.

Lélia Wanick Salgado, Curator and Exhibition Scenographer of Amazônia said, “Immersion is a big part of the curatorial process of this exhibition. By integrating visitors into the lush greenery of the rainforest and raw portrayals of the everyday lives of its Indigenous people, I hope to present a multidimensional look at the beauty of the Amazon, and impress on visitors the human and ecological elements at stake if we don’t take action to protect it.”

For Amazônia’s staging in Singapore, the museum aims to encourage and engage visitors to respond to the exhibition’s themes in relation to our local environmental landscape. Extending the immersive experience beyond the exhibition, the museum will introduce the Eco Sanctuary, a themed interactive space furnished with elements inspired by the rainforest, engaging visitors’ senses of touch, hearing and smell through the following segments:

Touch and Feel: This station invites visitors to interact with a series of artworks created by local artist Justin Lee, including a laser-cut wooden model of a Terrapin and a clay mould of a Custard Apple, which were inspired by flora and fauna from the museum’s William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings.

Can you hear me?: Visitors can listen to the evocative sounds of Amazonian instruments like the Pica-Pau and Bacururu de Palha, and compare these to instruments such as the angklung and guiro.

Scents and Sensibility: Visitors can immerse themselves in nature-inspired scents such as rain, forest wood and grass.

Reflection Zone: To end off their experience, visitors can view locally-focused conservation videos and contribute their thoughts on conservation and sustainability on magnetic leaves, coming together to advocate for and take action towards the protection of the Amazon and Singapore’s natural environment.

Visitors can also expect a host of complementary programmes as a deep dive into the topic of conservation. For the opening weekend of Amazônia, visitors of all ages can participate in a lineup of programmes such as a performance, drop-in craft activity, meet-and-greet with Otah – the Smooth-coated Otter from Otah & Friends – and exclusive workshops.

Images Courtesy of the National Museum of Singapore

AMAZÔNIA: Photographs by Sebastião Salgado runs from 22nd November 2024 to 2nd March 2025 at National Museum Singapore. More information available here