Experience
The reach, recognition, and cultural authority of the Yawanawa people — expressed through gatherings, music, exhibitions, and dialogue with the world.
@Faisal Tisnés
Gatherings & Retreats
Yawanawa retreats are journeys of sacred contemplation held within the villages, guided by Yawanawa medicine men and women and spiritual leaders who share the ancestral wisdom of the Amazon. Rooted in genuine exchange, learning, and healing, they invite participants into a living tradition through ceremonies, sacred chants, storytelling, music, and community life — always conducted with deep respect for Yawanawa customs, protocols, and spiritual values.
The Yawanawa Festival
The Yawanawa Festival is one of the most emblematic initiatives in the history of the Institute. It emerged from Chief Biraci Brasil Nixiwaka's vision of cultural and spiritual renewal, inspired by the transformative journey that began in the late 1980s following the departure of the missionaries. Since its creation, the festival has become one of the most important celebrations of Yawanawa culture and spirituality, offering a rich program of ceremonies, music, sacred chants, dances, and cultural exchange. Some editions have welcomed more than 200 participants from around the world, including internationally recognized artists and cultural figures such as João Donato and Joaquin Phoenix.
João Donato
@Camilla Coutinho
Joaquim Phoenix
Tailored Programs for Institutions
Beyond its established calendar of retreats and festivals, Aldeia Sagrada can host custom-designed immersive experiences for institutions at selected times of year. Developed according to the objectives of each partner, these programs may serve companies, foundations, universities, leadership groups, researchers, and philanthropic organizations seeking an authentic encounter with Yawanawa culture, spirituality, and worldview. Every experience is planned in accordance with the traditional Yawanawa calendar, cultural protocols, and the community's capacity to host — ensuring each gathering remains respectful, meaningful, and mutually enriching, and building genuine bridges between the ancestral wisdom of the Amazon and diverse sectors of the contemporary world.
@Camilla Coutinho
Collaboration with James Cameron and actors for Avatar 2 and 3
Interested in developing a program with the Institute?
Music has become one of the most powerful ways the Yawanawa share their spirituality, culture, and ancestral wisdom with the world. What was once heard only in ceremonies deep within the rainforest has become a distinctive artistic expression that preserves its sacred essence while reaching audiences across continents.
Music
Colibri Spirit Festival
Today, Mukashahu, Nawashahu, Ykashahu, Mukaveine, and Peu Yawanawa carry this living tradition forward as a new generation of artists and cultural ambassadors. Through sacred chants, original compositions, guitars, percussion, and ceremonial songs, they create performances that transcend conventional concerts, inviting audiences into an immersive experience of Yawanawa spirituality and the living energy of the forest. Their performances have been presented worldwide, introducing thousands of people to the beauty and spiritual depth of the Yawanawa musical tradition.
A major new chapter is now underway. Nawashahu, Ykashahu, and Mukashahu are preparing the release of their first studio album, featuring original compositions rooted in Yawanawa sacred traditions. The album will mark the beginning of an expanded concert experience — fully immersive productions that combine their live music with artistic direction, stage design, audiovisual installations, lighting, and cultural elements inspired by Yawanawa ceremony and cosmology. Conceived and developed in partnership with the Institute's longstanding partner KANAH, these productions go beyond musical performance to create a fully realized artistic and cultural experience.
Bali Spirit Festival
@Scorpios Mykonos
Colibri Spirit Festival
@ sacred Village
Interested in booking a concert?
Exhibitions
The Yawanawa have entered a new chapter in the international art world through their partnership with acclaimed media artist Refik Anadol. Together they are redefining what an exhibition can be — creating immersive experiences where ancestral wisdom, Indigenous culture, digital innovation, and environmental consciousness converge. These are not simply displays of artwork; they are living cultural experiences that bring audiences into direct contact with the spirituality, music, stories, and worldview of the Yawanawa people.
At the heart of this initiative is Winds of Yawanawa, a groundbreaking collaboration that combines original sacred drawings by Yawanawa artists with artificial intelligence and real-time environmental data from the Amazon. Wind speed, direction, temperature, and other atmospheric information from Yawanawa territory continuously shape evolving digital artworks, transforming the living forest into an active participant in the creative process. Incorporating Yawanawa chants, music, and ceremonial iconography, it is one of the first truly Indigenous-led collaborations between ancestral knowledge and generative AI.
Developed in partnership with Refik Anadol Studio, with strategic intercultural mediation by KANAH, the collaboration launched at Scorpios Mykonos, Greece, where the monumental digital artwork was presented alongside live Yawanawa performances, prayers, and conversations on Indigenous knowledge, environmental stewardship, and the future of technology. It has since been presented at Art Basel Miami, the Al Wasl dome in Dubai, and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Yawanawa art and culture also influence DATALAND in Los Angeles, the world's first museum of AI arts, founded by Refik Anadol and Efsun Erkılıç. The museum's inaugural exhibition, Machine Dreams: Rainforest, as well as its Large Nature Model, were deeply shaped by Yawanawa art, music, stories, and knowledge — placing Yawanawa living ancestral wisdom in dialogue with some of the most innovative artistic and technological work being created today.
Building on these collaborations, Instituto Nixiwaka is now open to developing original exhibitions in partnership with curators, cultural institutions, and creative studios — bringing Yawanawa art and knowledge into gallery and museum spaces around the world. Such exhibitions can bring audiences into contact with the Yawanawa through multiple forms of expression: sacred music and live performance, large-scale photography from the villages, audiovisual installation, oral history, traditional chants, panel discussions, and immersive digital environments. The result reaches beyond the traditional museum format, inviting audiences not only to observe Indigenous culture but to engage with it through art, dialogue, music, and shared reflection.
Interested in developing an exhibition or collaboration?
Speaking Engagements
Chief Biraci Brasil Nixiwaka and Putanny Yawanawa are internationally recognized speakers whose voices bridge ancestral Indigenous wisdom and the contemporary challenges facing humanity. Drawing on decades of leadership, spiritual practice, and stewardship of one of the world's most intact areas of the Amazon, they offer a perspective that resonates with governments, business leaders, academics, cultural institutions, and civil society alike.
Together, Nixiwaka and Putanny were invited to speak at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, joining a principal panel alongside heads of state, CEOs, and global leaders during the launch of the Forum's Indigenous Peoples Knowledge and Leadership Network. Chief Nixiwaka was also a featured speaker at the opening ceremony of the Psychedelic Science Conference in Denver, where he emphasized the indispensable role of Indigenous peoples in preserving humanity's oldest healing traditions. In Brazil, the two have taken part in landmark institutional events, including a historic session at the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) alongside the internationally acclaimed photographer Sebastião Salgado.
Whether addressing world leaders, universities, corporations, foundations, or international conferences, Nixiwaka and Putanny offer more than lectures — they offer deeply inspiring experiences that combine ancestral spirituality, Indigenous governance, environmental stewardship, and practical lessons from one of the world's most remarkable cultural and ecological success stories. The Institute welcomes invitations for keynote addresses, panel discussions, leadership forums, academic conferences, and cultural events.
Speech at Brazilian Superior Court of Justice
Invite Nixiwaka and Putanny to speak.
Curated films, photography, recordings, and press.
Media Library
News/Events
Latest news, announcements, and reflections from the Institute.
