Show shines light on destruction in Peru

Show shines light on destruction in Peru

By Charles Wood

David Hewson's life dramatically changed six years ago when he was introduced to Peruvian shaman Don Ron.

The two met at Burning Man, an art event based on radical self-expression held every year in the Black Rock Deserts of Nevada. The shaman was there to conduct ceremonies dedicated to the healing power of medicine. Hewson was drawn to the intense, transformative powers of the medicine, as well as a deep connection to the shaman and his rituals.

It was after this encounter that Hewson, a 1989 graduate of Guilford College, decided to travel to Iquitos, Peru, and study with shamans in 2006, marking a turning point in his artistic career.

Hewson has documented his experience in Peru with a traveling exhibit of paintings and photographs called "The Road and the Wilderness: Beauty and Destruction of the Peruvian Amazon." The exhibit is on view through April 29 at Guilford College.

The subjects of Hewson's paintings include the jungle, native Peruvians and figures from Peru's rich folklore. His photos show the culture and people of Peru and how they have been affected by oil contamination and deforestation.

"When I arrived in Peru, there were eight plots of land that the Peruvian government put up for exploration and excavation," Hewson says. "Now, there are 64 plots of land up for excavation, land that has been illegally taken from natives. Peru Petrol leases this land to America."

The idea to document these aspects of Peru came to Hewson during a ceremony in which he drank the medicine ayahuasca, a combination of plants used by shamans for religious and medicinal ceremonies. Shamans are intermediaries between the spirit and the material worlds and often give advice to their tribes, treat illnesses and act as spirit guides.

"A woman came to me in my vision," Hewson says of the experience. "She told me, 'Take your talent and show the beauty and destruction (of the Amazon) to your people.'"

The event, Hewson says, was, "such a great cleansing. It was a physical, mental and spiritual purging."

Since then, Hewson has made it his mission to shed light on the destruction of the Peruvian Amazon through his artwork.

"We're all complicit (in this atrocity)," he said. We (the U.S.) now make up 4.5 percent of the world's population but consume 25 percent of the world's petrol. We are destroying the Amazon for a week's worth of oil in America."

Hewson hopes his exhibition will make people more aware of the destruction of the Amazon and the crimes committed against the Peruvians,

"Land rights had been given to the native people after centuries of abuse by the West, but when resources were found, the rights were taken away," he says.

After the exhibition ends, Hewson plans to return to the Amazon to build a house in the jungle.

This article originally appeared in Go Triad