“I will be your mother”

Bu'ú Kennedy (1978, Alto Rio Negro, Brazil) is an artist and healer of the Ye'pá mahsã people, also known as Tukanos, a member of the Üremirin Sararó Clan – Patrilineal Family of the Amazon. His name, Bu'ú, which means “peacock bass” — an enchanted fish from the Amazon rivers — is traditionally attributed to men with short and fearless lives. As a jaguar and Yaí wá (jaguar) healer, Bu'ú is part of a lineage of practitioners of bahsese, an ancestral system of blessing, and underwent rigorous ritual initiations to exercise his role. In addition to his artistic practice, Bu'ú works throughout Brazil with the mission of treating sick people, conducting ceremonies and promoting projects aimed at preserving and valuing indigenous knowledge, defending both their culture and the environment to ensure the continuity of future generations.

His visual production is based primarily on marquetry, a technique he learned at the Dirson Costa Institute School of Arts, where he studied from 2005 to 2007. Marquetry involves the juxtaposition and fitting of different types of wood panels to form landscapes, motifs, and symbols. Bu'ú's compositions feature graphics, colors, and representations from his culture, demonstrating how art can shape and transmit knowledge about the world and society. In addition to his visual work, Bu'ú also directs and writes plays, including "Sapo Taro Bekê" (2006), "Tui-Sá Kumurõ" (2009), and "Ensinamento do Beija-Flor" (2010). In 2011, he served as coordinator of the cultural center at the Casa das Culturas Indígenas project in Cotia, Brazil.

At the age of 22, Bu'ú moved to Manaus and later to São Paulo, where he currently resides. He has participated in several group exhibitions, including: "Rites and Allegories of Nature", at Zipper Galeria, in São Paulo (2023); "Moquém_Surarî: Contemporary Indigenous Art", at the Museum of Modern Art (MAM-SP), in São Paulo (2021); and the Continental Biennial of Contemporary Indigenous Arts, in São Paulo (2011). His first solo exhibition, "Indigenous Arts of the Amazon", was held at the Casa da Cultura, in Itaguaí, Brazil (2009). His works are present in public collections, such as the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo and the Museu do Índio, in Rio de Janeiro, as well as institutions in China, Germany, and France.

Born in the region of São Gabriel da Cachoeira, AM, Bu'ú Kennedy also gives presentations of indigenous songs, dances and rituals of his clan, preserving and transmitting the cultural traditions of his people.