OBJECTIVE 4
CREATION AND MANAGEMENT OF INDIGENOUS CULTURAL SPACES IN THE CITY OF SÃO PAULO
Promote the creation and participative management of spaces for indigenous/non-indigenous intercultural dialogue such as Museums, Cultural Centers etc.
Instituto Maracá works to promote the creation and management, in tandem with indigenous representatives, of venues such as museums and cultural centers, in a bid to enable Brazilian society to become aware of, understand and highlight indigenous cultural expression, as well as safeguard indigenous knowledge and traditional practices.
The old ethnographic museums are reconsidering their roles and looking to get current on new demands and social contexts. More and more, ethnographic museums, anthropology museums and others are being favored as ideal spaces for promoting dialogue and rapport with different peoples and cultures. By promoting reflection on the concepts of culture, society, heritage and cultural diversity, they help build more tolerant societies where differences are respected, as well as build history, collective identities and citizenship.
In Brazil, such discussions are also intensifying. Multiple museum exhibits on the indigenous issue, as well as discussions and research at universities and villages alike, point to the need and the importance of creating spaces that approach indigenous questions through the prism of innovative concepts.
Despite Brazil’s huge ethnical and cultural diversity, few institutions are specifically devoted to publicizing indigenous culture. The foremost ethnographic museums in the country, which might fulfil that role, are primarily research- rather than public-oriented. Therefore, public-facing museums are short in number and do not see much in the way of investment.
A museum dealing with indigenous history and culture in Brazil would complement the spectrum of cultural venues in the city of São Paulo, answering indigenous representatives’ calls for a space in which to showcase, research and affirm, in their own way, their contemporary forms of existence, thinking, art and history.
True involvement, shared management, indigenous-led choice of contents and the way information will be conveyed to the public are central to this project.
We propose to create an innovative kind of museum in the city of São Paulo: one which, besides dealing with Brazilian indigenous art, history and culture, will also enable Brazilian society to become aware of, understand, and highlight indigenous cultural expressions.
This venue to be created in the city of São Paulo is intended as a privileged space for the promotion of intercultural dialogue through critical reflection on the concepts of culture, society, heritage and cultural diversity. As such, it should contribute to building a more tolerant, democratic society.
The creation of this venue is also intended to cater to indigenous representatives’ calls for a space in which to showcase, research and affirm their contemporary forms of existence, thinking, art and history, from their own perspective and in their own way.
Some of the pillars to creating this space are:
Coming up with creative, innovative experiences and approaches for familiarizing the general public with the world of indigenous peoples, put forth by indigenous individuals themselves;
Involving indigenous representatives in the Museum’s decision-making, management and conceptual orientation instances;
Training and empowering indigenous representatives and their communities through exchange methodologies, knowledge- and experience-sharing, and network-building;
Institutional connection- and partnership-building with public and private as well as educational and research institutions.
Conducting research and studies into ethnographic collections and archives on indigenous tangible and intangible culture, art, and history, in collaboration with indigenous individuals themselves as well as academic researchers.
Creating references and contents for the application of Law 11.645, from March 10, 2008, which made “Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous History and Culture” a mandatory subject in the official curricula of public and private elementary and high schools.
Creating and managing digital collections, data banks and platforms to pull together and organize information on ethnographic archives in Brazil and the world, in order to facilitate access and identification of currently available digital archives.