Reinterpreting Amazonia: Baniwa Perspectives on Indigenous Curation
- Event type
- Seminar
- Address
- Bedford Room, G37, Ground Floor, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
- Speakers
- Denilson Baniwa (artist), Fran Baniwa (Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro), Jamille Pinheiro Dias (ILCS, CLACS), Louise de Mello (SDCELAR, British Museum), Lúcia Sá (University of Manchester)
- Event dates
- Contact
- ilcs@sas.ac.uk .
Speakers
Denilson Baniwa and Fran Baniwa
Discussants
Jamille Pinheiro Dias (ILCS, CLACS) and Louise de Mello (SDCELAR, British Museum)
Lúcia Sá (University of Manchester, respondent)
Artist Denilson Baniwa and anthropologist Fran Baniwa are invited to share their personal experiences and different perspectives on working and collaborating with museums in Brazil and around the world. Followed by a conversation with Jamille Pinheiro Dias (CLACS/University of London), Louise de Mello (SDCELAR/British Museum) and Lúcia Sá (University of Manchester), this talk will reflect upon the present role of Indigenous curation for the future of museum practice. This event is organised by the Santo Domingo Centre for Latin American Research at the British Museum (SDCELAR) in partnership with the Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of London (CLACS).
Interpretation from Portuguese to English will be provided.
The seminar will conclude with a wine reception
Denilson Baniwa is an artist born in Dari village, Barcelos, Amazonas, who blends ancestral and present-day elements in his art to highlight Indigenous challenges and resist colonial narratives. Using various media, he manipulates images to reveal marginalized Indigenous histories. His work, exhibited globally, critiques colonialism while reflecting contemporary Indigenous experiences. Notable exhibitions include the 22nd Sydney Biennale, Centro Cultural São Paulo, and the Pinacoteca de São Paulo. He is preparing exhibitions for the Quai Branly Museum in Paris and the Humboldt Forum in Berlin, with a major show opening at Princeton University in 2024. He was also one of the curators of the Hãhãwpuá Pavilion representing Brazil at the 60th Venice Biennale.
Fran Baniwa is a PhD candidate in Anthropology at Rio de Janeiro’s Museu Nacional. She belongs to the Baniwa people of the Terra Indígena do Alto Rio Negro. She is the first Indigenous woman to publish an anthropological monograph in Brazil. Her book, Umbigo do mundo (‘The Navel of the World’, Dantes Editora, 2023), is a journey through stories and myths that reveal the cosmology of the Baniwa people. Fran also collaborates in the curatorship of the Museu dos Povos Indígenas in Brazil, where she further coordinates the project Vida e arte das mulheres Baniwa: Um olhar de dentro para fora (‘Life and art among Baniwa women: a gaze from inside out’) in partnership with Unesco.
Jamille Pinheiro Dias is the director of the Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and the co-director of the Environmental Humanities Research Hub at the University of London’s School of Advanced Study, where she also works as a lecturer. She is also an affiliate faculty member at Duke University's Amazon Lab. Her research is dedicated to the intersection between the Environmental Humanities and Indigenous arts and activism, with a focus on Brazilian Amazonia.
Louise Cardoso de Mello is the curator for Latin America at the British Museum and Head of the Santo Domingo Centre of Excellence for Latin American Research (SDCELAR). She is an anthropologist and archaeologist with a PhD in history, specializing in Amazonia. Louise has held affiliations with the University of Cambridge, Harvard University, the National Museum in Brazil and the Museum of Huelva, and she is currently a Transatlantic Fellow at the American Trust for the British Library.
Lúcia Sá is Professor of Brazilian Studies at the University of Manchester. She is the author of Rainforest Literatures: Amazonian Texts and Latin American Cultures (University of Minnesota Press: 2007) and of various articles on Amazonian indigenous cultures. She was Principal Investigator for the Arts and Humanities Research Council project ‘Racism and anti-racism in Brazil: the case of Indigenous Peoples’ (2017-2018) and is currently co-investigator in the Arts and Humanities Research Council project ‘Cultures of Anti-Racism in Latin America’.
Fran Baniwa is a PhD candidate in Anthropology at Rio de Janeiro’s Museu Nacional. She belongs to the Baniwa people of the Terra Indígena do Alto Rio Negro. She is the first Indigenous woman to publish an anthropological monograph in Brazil. Her book, Umbigo do mundo (‘The Navel of the World’, Dantes Editora, 2023), is a journey through stories and myths that reveal the cosmology of the Baniwa people. Fran also collaborates in the curatorship of the Museu dos Povos Indígenas in Brazil, where she further coordinates the project Vida e arte das mulheres Baniwa: Um olhar de dentro para fora (‘Life and art among Baniwa women: a gaze from inside out’) in partnership with Unesco.
Jamille Pinheiro Dias is the director of the Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and the co-director of the Environmental Humanities Research Hub at the University of London’s School of Advanced Study, where she also works as a lecturer. She is also an affiliate faculty member at Duke University's Amazon Lab. Her research is dedicated to the intersection between the Environmental Humanities and Indigenous arts and activism, with a focus on Brazilian Amazonia.
Louise Cardoso de Mello is the curator for Latin America at the British Museum and Head of the Santo Domingo Centre of Excellence for Latin American Research (SDCELAR). She is an anthropologist and archaeologist with a PhD in history, specializing in Amazonia. Louise has held affiliations with the University of Cambridge, Harvard University, the National Museum in Brazil and the Museum of Huelva, and she is currently a Transatlantic Fellow at the American Trust for the British Library.
Lúcia Sá is Professor of Brazilian Studies at the University of Manchester. She is the author of Rainforest Literatures: Amazonian Texts and Latin American Cultures (University of Minnesota Press: 2007) and of various articles on Amazonian indigenous cultures. She was Principal Investigator for the Arts and Humanities Research Council project ‘Racism and anti-racism in Brazil: the case of Indigenous Peoples’ (2017-2018) and is currently co-investigator in the Arts and Humanities Research Council project ‘Cultures of Anti-Racism in Latin America’.
All are welcome to attend this free seminar, which will be held in person at 17:30 BST (UK time). Please register in advance by clicking Book Now at the top of this page.
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