Mo Ganji: Northern Muriqui | Nördlicher Muriqui | Brachyteles hypoxanthus | No. 143/250 from work group 8/99

Mo Ganji’s single line engages the Northern muriqui — a large arboreal primate native to Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, known for its calm social structure and fluid movement through the canopy — by allowing the being’s inner coherence to come forward without emphasis on gentleness or kinship. The continuous line gathers a distilled core of presence, enough to suggest life while remaining open to meanings beyond the category of “monkey.” In this unveiling of the essential, form appears before behavior or familiarity defines it.

Brachyteles hypoxanthus is listed as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List. Endemic to southeastern Brazil, the species inhabits remnants of the Atlantic Forest, one of the most heavily fragmented and degraded ecosystems in the world. Only a few hundred individuals are believed to survive, scattered across isolated forest patches.

The principal threats include extensive habitat loss and fragmentation driven by agriculture, logging and urban expansion, as well as the long-term effects of population isolation and reduced genetic diversity. Because northern muriquis rely on large, continuous forest canopies for movement, feeding and social cohesion, fragmentation severely limits their ability to persist. Conservation efforts focus on habitat protection, corridor restoration and long-term monitoring.

Ganji’s single line opens a space in which the muriqui can be encountered beyond harmony or emblematic status. It invites attention to a presence shaped by connection and continuity, quietly reminding us that when forests are broken apart, it is not only space that disappears — but entire ways of living together, including our own place within the fragile networks we continue to divide.