A round table about Indigenous art from the Brazilian Northeast and its connection with environmental questions and land struggle. The Indigenous peoples from the Northeast of Brazil were the first to suffer the impact of colonisation after the landing of the Portuguese in the region in 1500. Centuries of continuous colonial violence forced many Indigenous groups to forget their language and hide their traditions and spiritual beliefs. The retomada (retaking or reclaiming) movements, which took place after the 1988 Constitution, saw many groups in the Northeast reclaim their ancestral lands whilst recovering and fostering the use of language, rituals, and traditions. The last six years have also seen an impressive surge in Northeastern Indigenous art, with environmental and land issues taking a central role.
The following people will speak:
Olinda Yawar Tupinambá (Pau Brasil, Brazil, 1989) is a multidisciplinary artist known for using her body as a political statement to address environmental issues and human-nature entanglements. Since 2015, she has directed several independent audiovisual works, including documentaries and fiction. She has curated and produced major film festivals, such as Cine Kurumin, and the Kaapora Festival of Indigenous and Environmental Film. In 2024, she was an invited artist at the 60th Venice Biennale with her installation "Balance," featured in the Hãhãwpuá Pavilion (the renamed Brazil Pavilion).
Ziel Karapotó (São Sebastião, Brazil, 1994) is a multidisciplinary artist. His work spans filmmaking, painting, installations, and performing arts. He exhibited the installation "School of Fish II" at the 60th Venice Biennale, also featured in the Hãhãwpuá Pavilion, and won several awards for his short film "The Word Became Flesh" (2019). Since 2021, Karapotó has led the Karaxuwanassu Association of Indigenous People in Urban Contexts (ASSICUKA).
Jamille Pinheiro Dias (Belém, Brazil, 1983) is a lecturer and the director of the Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and co-director of the Environmental Humanities Research Hub at the University of London. Her research focuses on Amazonian cultural production, Indigenous arts, and environmental humanities in Latin America.
