Refik, what spurred your interest in the Yawanawá tribe and inspired this body of work?

Refik Anadol
I’m very grateful to be here with Chief Nixiwaka. This collaboration, for me and my studio, is one of the most meaningful, most purposeful and hopefully most impactful of all the projects we’ve ever done. The reason I’ve been very inspired and hold so much respect for the Yawanawá culture and family, is that we were able to go to their sacred village last year and live with their wonderful family. They opened their hearts, their homes and shared their food — that was how we connected. Together with my wife and partner Efsun and the entire Impact One team, we had the best experience of our lives thanks to them opening their culture and showing us their rich world. I’ve download more than four billion images and have worked with Intel and Google, but I never been so inspired by something I deeply respect, like I was with the Yawanawá.

Nixiwaka, what was it like to have Refik and his wife live with you and experience your way of life in order to then create “Winds of Yawanawá”?

Chief Nixiwaka Yawanawá
The collaboration with artists Refik and Efsun is historic. Not only because it's the Yawanawá people, but it's the first time in the world that I see an artist of Refik's level making a sincere, honest and respectful partnership with indigenous peoples. This has a positive impact on the preservation of the tropical forests of this planet, especially the Amazon rainforest. I was scared when artists like Refik arrived, companies like Mikolaj’s (Sekutowicz, founder and CEO of Impact One). Because generally people have always taken the opportunity to exploit the original peoples and the forest. But today we are writing a new history for humanity. A sincere, honest partnership and collaboration, that shows that we are living in another time — a time when science and technology, can strengthen native peoples and the environment. I am very positive about what is happening in the world right now, and I am happy to be here in Greece, in the cradle of civilization of Western man, speaking with you.