Among images, objects, worlds and experiences: the Amerindian arts’ discursive networks

Abstract

This essay focuses on the curatorial processes of exhibitions and collections of indigenous arts expressed in the archaeological materiality, a discussion that may be addressed by several approaches. Our analysis will focus on the curatorial processes of five different exhibitions of Precolumbian archaeology  which were organized in Brazil, between 2005 and 2023, crossing three perspectives of critical approach: understanding archaeological and ethnographic collections as generating forces, as well as products of the clashes between western and indigenous long-term histories; indigenous art as an expression of the permanent tension between ontologies and values; the indigenous museum, or the indigenization of/in the museum, as a form of resistance to possible alterities. The aim of the discussion is to contribute to the debate towards the challenges for curating Amerindian art collections in Brazil, from the perspective of archeology.