Museums, ethnographic collections and social identity: reflections on the curatorship shared with the sateré mawé in a university museum in the city of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil Volume 5 Issue 3 -2023 (original) (raw)
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The power of museums with ethnographic collections: two cases in Brazil
International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology Springer, 2024
The Power of Museums" was the General Conference on the central theme of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) in 2022 (Prague). This article aims to discuss the ability of ethnographic collections to combat prejudice and promote freedom, cultural diversity, religious diversity, and democracy, among other aspects of human rights. Here, we propose a theoretical reflection on the power of museums, considering the context of the decolonization of ethnographic collections in Brazil. To illustrate the discussion, we briefly present two recent cases in the country that refer to the appreciation of indigenous, religious, and cultural diversity. The first is related to a photographic collection of indigenous peoples that is part of the Museu Paranaense (MUPA) collection in Curitiba (southern Brazil). The second case involves collections from a group of people who descend from enslaved people and members of Terreiros de Umbanda and Candomblé in the city of Rio de Janeiro (southeastern region), which is now preserved at the Museu da Republica. For this purpose, we present a brief context on the historical development of Brazil, its contemporary museum universe, and Associação Brasileira de Antropologia's initiative to map ethnographic collections in Brazil. Both cases reveal experiences of decolonizing ethnographic collections with the direct involvement of the associated communities. These cases demonstrate how it is possible to deconstruct collections This article was previously presented during the Annual Meeting of the International Committee for Museums of Ethnography (ICME), an international committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM-UNESCO) on November 22nd-23rd, 2022.
Latin American Antiquity, 2020
In this article, I take a close look at the objects collected over the last 200 years from the indigenous people of the Upper Rio Negro, northwest of the Brazilian Amazon, that were part of the ethnographic collection of the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro. Examination of these objects allows us to explore the main characteristics of the ethnographic archive of the museum, as the Upper Rio Negro collections were connected to different topics associated with indigenous societies and histories in Brazil, including enslavement, forced displacement, religious conversion, and indigenous territorial, artifactual, and cultural knowledge. This article also highlights the professional commitment of Brazilian anthropology to amplifying indigenous voices over the course of the history of the discipline, and by doing so, it pays homage to the women and men whose work built the National Museum collections. Este trabajo discute las principales características de las colecciones etnográficas del Museo Nacional de Río de Janeiro a través de los objetos recuperados durante los últimos 200 años entre los indígenas del Alto Río Negro (URN), quienes habitan en el noroeste de la Amazonia brasileña. Como un ejemplo que permite abordar las principales características del acervo etnográfico del Museo, estas colecciones están vinculadas a diferentes temas que abordan las historias y las sociedades indígenas de Brasil tales como la esclavitud, el desplazamiento forzado, la conversión religiosa y el conocimiento ecológico nativo. Durante la presentación de estos temas, el texto destaca el compromiso profesional de la Antropología Brasileña con la diseminación de las voces indígenas a lo largo de su historia. Al hacerlo, rindo homenaje a las mujeres y hombres cuyo trabajo ha constituido el Museo Nacional.
ETHNIC IDENTITY THROUGH ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUMS AND EXHIBITIONS (IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM
Approaching the new minennium the antagonisms and general social, political, economic and cultural crises perturbing European and other societies lead to a revision of the identity of every ethrüc community, ethnic group or nation within a coimtry or region. The universal nature of culture or of the mass culture of the 60s are making way for the entity of cultural features of nations, ethnic communities and groups (which manifest themselves in differences, shnilarities and coimterparts). In this atmosphere of historic, sodal and economic transformation of the late twentieth century we tend to see museums as places which spread culture and identity, but also as places where other cultures and cultural differences are preserved and fostered and compared with one's own. Who are we in the global society? More than ever what we need is our own "identity card". We may possibly find it in the thematic and, perhaps even better, in the permanent exhibition of a museum. But is this the right way of preservmg our cultural identity? We shaU try to answer this question below. In the past the Voivodina Museum, for example, started by presenting Serbia's identity through a modest coUection gathered by Matica Srpska in Novi Sad (under the rule of the Austio-Hungarian Emphe). Nowadays the museum has expanded and become a multinational (multi-ethnical) museum in which s variety of nationalities try to find themselves within as heterogeneous area. "The impact of the region's geographic position on man's aeativity in shaping, changmg and passing on culture in Voivodina consists fhst of aU of the awareness that there is something spedal, unique in the nature of the geographic location as weUs as of the specific nature of its cultural and historical development. This is the highest level of abstracting notions and ideas of the real world which are faced with".' • Example 1. On the permanent exhibition and on the ethnological section within the permanent exhibition of the complex museum:
Saving the present in Brazil: Perspectives from collaborations with indigenous museums
This paper explores some of the challenges and benefits involved in the collaboration between the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology of the University of São Paulo, the India Vanuire Historical and Pedagogical Museum, and the Kaingang people of Vanuire, as well as some of the outcomes of these partnerships, such as the creation of the Kaingang Wowkriwig Museum. These experiences showed that working in collaboration with indigenous groups can be mutually beneficial and rewarding. The benefits include opportunities to empower the Kaingang to create and manage their own museums, and to exchange more effective preservation strategies , information about manufacturing technologies , as well as the original use and significance of objects. Moreover, the significance of objects whose value had diminished was revived by the new perspectives brought about by these inclusive approaches. The paper concludes that many other museums can act as agents of these processes but a prerequisite is a reconsideration of their relationships with indigenous groups and how the past can be redressed.
Anthropology and Museums: Notes from a Course in Bahia, Brazil
Teaching and Learning Anthropology Journal, 2021
This paper describes a course on Anthropology and Museums offered at the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil. The interface between anthropology and museums is of great relevance for the elaboration of an effective pedagogical strategy in teaching anthropology. The course described here included both theoretical and practical activities aimed at covering contemporary debates about anthropology, museums, and material culture as well as at offering direct first-hand experiences for students. The development and results of the course highlight the usefulness of adopting this theoretical-practical mixture for the effective engagement of students in the educational process.
The sacred in museums, the museology of the sacred — the spirituality of indigenous people
ICOFOM study series, 2019
Lo sagrado en el museo, la museología de lo sagrado-la espiritualidad indígena La discusión de lo sagrado en el museo puede tomarse por diferentes retos. En el artículo presentamos la espiritualidad indígena y cómo influye el trabajo en el museo, especialmente de la curaduría. Los argumentos se mantienen en acciones de colaboración y en los conocimientos indígenas en Brasil. Mantenemos que los museos son lugares sagrados, porque los objetos indígenas son sagrados y la parte sagrada hace parte de la vida de los pueblos indígenas. Los objetos musealizados indígenas sí mismo transportan las energías ancestrales, mientras evocan comunicación con los espíritus. Es una visión que pone los espíritos como curadores del museo, lo que requiere nuevos aprendizajes para nuevas situaciones museológicas. Palabras claves: Museología y lo sagrado, Espiritualida indígena, Curadoria y lo sagrado, Proceso colaborativo.