https://youtu.be/fXuUSTQ9uzs For the Xingu Indians,
Mavutsinim is the great creator and the first man in the world. He is the God of the tribe, an
anthropomorphic and inaccessible
deity , who gave rise to other beings and instituted the
Quarup ritual - a tribute to the illustrious dead.
In this ritual, the natives paint themselves to free themselves from grief and sadness, so that these feelings can give way to happiness and strength. According to Xingu beliefs,
Mavutisinim produced a drawing, his first ever, which is a painting that refers to a tortoise, also representing energy and vivacity.
With this concept and the theme of the exhibition in mind, Jean de Just, who will be responsible for the
Lavabo dos Encontros at
CASACOR São Paulo 2018 , invited the artist and chief Anuiá Amarü to recreate the painting on one of the project's prominent walls. The work is composed of four colors that have their own meanings: the white and blue tones represent the sky; the red represents beings and life; and the black represents the genipap.
Anuiá Amarü comes from a family of shamans, being the eldest son of Maniwa Kamayurá, master of the arts and crafts of the traditional knowledge of the people of Alto Xingu, from the Encontro de Saberes project, promoted by the University of Brasília (UNB) in partnership with SID/MINC.
Memorial dos Povos Indígenas, em Brasília, em uma construção do Oscar Niemeyer com a pintura de Anuiá Amarü. (Divulgação)
Just like his father, Anuiá is a specialist in building his people's traditional residence and has accumulated works spread across various places, such as the
Memorial of Indigenous Peoples of Brasília, in a building by Oscar Niemeyer.
Furthermore, Anuiá is an excellent flutist and political columnist. Together with important partners, he has been active in the area of cultural policies and plays an important role in the search for strengthening the knowledge of his people and in the development of projects that improve the quality of life of native peoples.
In the video above, the artist shows a little of his rich art and talks about his culture and way of life. Press play and check it out!
