Hutukara is a spectacle for eyes and ears, bringing the Yanomami culture to carnaval, bringing the craft of the Rio de Janeiro favela with all its cultural nuances to the biggest visual spectacle on earth: the Rio de Janeiro carnaval. Illustration and art direction along with Amazon sourced and recycled materials gave life to a 3,000 people musical carnaval parade.

1. The Yanomami are an indigenous group that live isolated from the main Brazilian population, in the heart of the Amazon forest. They live in a gold rich area, atracting illegal gold mining cartels that polute their rivers with mercury, bring diseases, hunger and violence. The Yanomami are facing extinction at the hands of the mining cartels combined with the inaction from the Brazilian governement. The fact that it all happens far away from the media and the main Brazilian population makes it harder to transform their protection into a priority from the Brazilian government and to generate a loud outcry from the Brazilian population.

2. The Rio de Janeiro Carnaval is commonly refered to as “the biggest spectacle on the planet”. With a live audience of 100,000 people and TV coverage that reaches nearly 100M people. It became the perfect stage to have Brazil’s attention concerning the Yanomami fight against illegal gold and for their survival.

The Yanomami people are facing extinction. Living in the middle of the Amazon forest, in a gold rich area, their land has been invaded by illegal gold mining cartels, who polute their rivers and fishing source with mercury, bring deadly diseases and violence, contributing to one of the worst humanitarian crisis in the recent brazilian history. The Yanomami fight for survival is met with lack of efficient action from the Brazilian government and indiference from the main Brazilian population.

To raise awareness and bring visibility to the Yanomami fight against illegal gold mining and their fight for survival in order to generate a loud outcry from the main Brazilian population and efficient action from the Brazilian government.

To have the Yanomami fight for survival as a priority topic in the news media. To become a household conversation of the main Brazilian population. To generate clear effective action from the government.

Hutukara brings to life the convergence of two universes: The Yanomami culture, aesthetics and story and the Rio de Janeiro favela universe, with the carnaval culture, materials, and art direction. The amalgamation of both brought to life a visual spectacle that is impossible to ignore, presenting to the world the most interesting and ancient aspects of the Yanomami culture, and their fight against illegal gold cartels.