Da miçanga à reantropofagia: traduções da arte indígena

Abstract

The dissertation investigates the systems of translation that indigenous art establishes when it comes into contact with the world of art institutions, in situations often marked by equivocations and conflicts of interests. In the first two chapters, I delve into an ethnological vocabulary to understand the different ways in which indigenous people assimilate or reject things that are provided by otherness – the white man, the enemy, the foreigner. Ritual anthropophagy is one of these ways of relating to the other, a widespread practice in the field of literature and visual arts mainly due to S. Paulo Modernism, and the works of Oswald de Andrade and Mário de Andrade. This relational system is part of a cognitive model interpreted as a metaphysics of predation, displayed in this dissertation in aesthetical situations where the relationship between thing and beings is involved – animals, humans, supernatural beings. The beads (miçangas) are part of this industrial apparatus, which was introduced into the indigenous world by white men. In the last two chapters, ethnological vocabulary is explored alongside Contemporary Indigenous Painting by Jaider Esbell and Denilson Baniwa, to mark a turning point in which theorists in the disciplinary field of art feel more comfortable to discuss the indigenous aesthetics as an artistic solution. The art/artifact conflict is left aside, in order to analyze the necessary conditions for an object produced by an indigenous person be considered art. Some exhibitions exemplify the issues of this thesis: No caminho da miçanga: um mundo que se faz de contas (2016) curated by Els Lagrou, Véxoa: nós sabemos (2019) curated by Naine Terena and ReAntropofagia (2019) curated by Denilson Baniwa and Pedro Gradella. The performances of the indigenous leader Aritana at the 13th São Paulo Biennial (1975) and Jaider Esbell at the 34th São Paulo Biennial (2021) emphasizes the importance of indigenous people claiming the authorship. As a counterpoint, there’s the active listening, which is elaborated in the encounter of Mario de Andrade's Macunaíma (1928) and Jaider Esbell's Makunaimî.