Brazil's Indian culture to be explored in photo exhibit, presentation

The Mebêngôkre-Kayapó Indians of the Brazilian Amazon are the focus of an exclusive photographic exhibit and presentation at Purdue this month.

Diego Soares, a visiting professor at the Center for the Environment in Purdue’s Discovery Park, will debut his exhibit, “Krukràdjà Kayapo,” from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday (Nov. 11) in the atrium of the Gerald D. and Edna E. Mann Hall. Soares will give brief remarks at 4:30 p.m.

The day before the exhibit opening, Soares will explain the broader research behind his photographs at a presentation in Pfendler Hall, Deans Auditorium. “Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge in Contemporary Brazil: Ontological Dialogues, Agency and Translation in the Amazon and Cerrado” will begin at 3:30 p.m. Thursday (Nov. 10). Soares will be available starting at 3 p.m. for pre-talk visits.

A professor at the Institute of Social Sciences of the Federal University of Uberlândia and a research associate at several social science and technology centers in Brazil, Soares has conducted ethnographic and field research on South American Indians, peasants, riverside communities and biologists studying biodiversity and traditional knowledge. His exhibit explores how the Mebêngôkre-Kayapó culture is experienced in daily and ceremonial life by the villagers of A’Ukre.

“The word ‘Krukràdjà’ is an indigenous category that has been translated by ethnologists as ‘tradition’ or ‘culture,’ an abstract concept used to refer to the composite and multiple knowledges linked to the art of living a ‘good life’ from the indigenous point of view,” Soares says. “The photographs in this exhibit depict how aesthetics in ceremonial life are synthesized in the bodies painted and decorated with ornaments for the community rituals, but are also present in daily activities like fishing, hunting and gardening.”

Both the exhibit opening and the talk are free and open to the public. Visitors may also view the exhibit in Mann Hall from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays Nov. 14 through Nov. 28. The building will be closed over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.