The Indigenous Benches of Brazil

 Clique aqui  para ver a exposição em português.

Carving wooden sitting benches is a longstanding artistic practice among the Indigenous peoples in Brazil. These wooden benches are utilized for ceremonial purposes and everyday use in their communities. Some are zoomorphic, representing animals of the Brazilian fauna and spiritual entities, while others take a more geometrical seat shape, painted with natural pigments or carved in eloquent designs.

We are before a formidable artistic wealth that invites us to better understand Indigenous art and their profound meanings, above all, to conclude that it is not a question of the productions of only one people, but a diversity of more than 30 native peoples, each with their peculiar way of initialing and understanding art, in addition to each one of these peoples preserving practices of ancient knowledge. We are more than 300 Indigenous nations, speaking more than 274 languages in Brazil alone, and here we are only exploring 10% of the number of people in Brazil involved in the art of making wooden benches. -Ariabo Kezo, Balatiponé educator and writer

This exhibit showcases 118 contemporary benches drawn from the collection of Coleção BEĨ in São Paulo, Brazil, and features the work of artists from thirty-four Indigenous groups across different regions of the country. In order to center and amplify Indigenous perspectives and put them in conversation with one another, we have created a geospatial map locating each artwork in the place of its creation.

Curated by Mariana Brazão (Independent curator, UVA 2019), Marina Frúgoli (Curator, Coleção BEĨ), Adriana Greci Green (Curator of Indigenous arts of the Americas, The Fralin Museum of Art)

The collection of benches featured in this exhibit affirms the rich and aesthetic brilliance of Indigenous peoples and their dedication to the rigorous preservation of their cultures and traditions. Our introduction to the practice of creating wooden benches is intended to celebrate this art form and to honor the ongoing work of Indigenous artists who are maintaining and reviving this practice and reclaiming its relevance to their own experiences.

If you would like to get into contact with the Indigenous artists featured in this exhibit, please go  here . If you are an institution or museum that has a bench that you would like to share, please email us at  colecaobei@bei.com.br .

Curators Mariana Brazão (Independent curator, UVA 2019), Marina Frúgoli (Curator, Coleção BEĨ), Adriana Greci Green (Curator of Indigenous arts of the Americas, The Fralin Museum of Art)

Collection  Coleção BEĨ 

Map Instituto Socioambiental (ISA), Mariana Brazão

Photography Rafael Costa / © Coleção BEĨ

Video Translations High5Tradução

Developed with support from Mapping Indigenous Worlds Lab, University of Virginia; Scholar’s Lab, University of Virginia; Mellon Indigenous Arts Program, University of Virginia; Americas Center / Centro de Las Américas, University of Virginia; Coleção BEĨ, São Paulo; Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia; and with the assistance of ISA – Instituto Socioambiental

Special thanks to Laura Aguiar, Tomas Alvim, Calixto Amaral, Elissandra Barros, Eli Carter, Sylvia Chong, Alexandre Costa, Chris Gist, Paulo Junqueira, Yakari Kuikuro, Drew MacQueen, Gilberto Manea, Mayawari Mehinaku, Marisa Moreira Salles, William Nascimento, Renato Rodrigues, Catherine Walden