CHAA YOUN WOO
Having lived with the Tukano Indians of the Amazon forest for over half a year, Youn Woo Chaa learned the craft of weaving. Through direct participation of an essential skill of everyday life and survival of the Baniwa, Chaa has mastered the common patterns and techniques that thread a network of over 400 tribes of the Amazon, despite their disparate languages and cultures. From harvesting of the Aruma (plant which produces the weaving reed) to the finishing touches with the cipo (a piece of wood to tie a work into place), Chaa has engaged himself in the gamut of the craft of the Baniwa. By incorporating these acquired skills of the craft into the Western art of the portrait, we revisit the modern portrait through the renewed perspective of the primitive weave.