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The National Museum of the Republic, in Brasília (DF), will host, from December 6th, the exhibition The Eyes of the Xingu, which will be available for viewing until February 2, 2025. There are 20 photographs and 20 videos of eight members of the Xingu+ Communicators Network who live on Indigenous Lands in the Xingu River Basin, between Pará and Mato Grosso.

Curated by Kujaesãge Kaiabi and indigenous communicators, the exhibition is a production by the Xingu+ Network, the European Union and the Socio-Environmental Institute (ISA); and has the support of the Rainforest Foundation of Norway.

The exhibition invites the public to delve into the perspective of Xingu communicators on the ways of life and the threats faced by the peoples of the Xingu Protected Areas Corridor in the face of the climate crisis. In addition to the photographs, the exhibition expands with the screening of 20 videos, in which indigenous and riverside communities share the stories behind the photographs. 

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Os Eyes of the Xingu was inaugurated in July this year in the center of Oslo, the capital of Norway. It is the first time that Xinguan communicators present the results of their work in Brasília.

The 20 images and videos direct the gaze of the surrounding society beyond the boundaries of popular imagination, highlighting the intrinsic relationship between good living and the protection of territories. The images produced by the communicators also propose a reflection on how the different ways of producing visual records encourage new generations of communicators to take photographs based on the thoughts of the Xingu people.

The selection of photos presented in the exhibition includes records of mobilizations in Brasília, such as the 3rd Indigenous Women's March, held in September 2023, as well as portraits taken at meetings and in dances and festivities held in the territories.

In a powerful monochrome photograph, communicator Tina Yawalapiti portrayed the Umatalhi cultural center, an important space for strengthening the Upper Xingu way of life by carrying out activities such as teaching the Yawalapiti language – currently with few speakers –, crafts classes and courses in training for communicators.

See two photographs that feature in the exhibition:

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About the curator, Kujaesãge Kaiabi

Kujaesãge Kaiabi lives in the Guarujá village, in the Xingu Indigenous Territory (TIX), where she stands out as one of the most promising female figures in audiovisual. Every day she wakes up early, bathes in the river and prepares food for her family. Together with the women of her community, she collects cassava, peanuts, roasts flour, makes handicrafts and takes care of her village.

Her main role as a communicator is to support kaiabi chiefs and leaders in understanding government setbacks and threats being processed in the National Congress. “I am a spokesperson for the Kaiabi people”, says the communicator. To do this, she produces informative videos and audios.

The desire to become a communicator arose when she was invited to act in the film The story of the Agouti and the Monkey, from the Caititu Institute. Since then, Kujaesãge has been inspired by the productions she saw during her career. “It wasn’t easy for me, because at that time there were no women in the audiovisual field,” she said.

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Images have a very significant power for the Kaiabi people. “When we take a photo or make a video, it is this record that will serve as a dictionary or reminder of the family that has passed away,” said the communicator, who also researches images of her people in historical archives of content produced by non-indigenous filmmakers.

Since 2018, he has provided audiovisual coverage of the Mobilization of Indigenous Leaders, at the Acampamento Terra Livre (ATL) in Brasília.

In 2022, she curated the 1st Indigenous Cinema and Culture Festival in Brazil and in the same year she exhibited photos and a film at the Instituto Moreiras Salles in which she presents the trajectory of her grandfather, Prepori Kaiabi, one of the main shamans in the history of the Xingu Indigenous Park (PIX).

Currently, Kujaesãge Kaibi (@kujaesage) is dedicated to producing a feature film that tells the story of Prepori Kaiabi.

About Xingu+ Network communicators

Composed of 53 members, the Network of Indigenous and Riverine Communicators of the Xingu is part of the Xingu+ Network, an articulation between organizations of indigenous peoples, associations of traditional communities and civil society institutions operating in the Xingu River basin.

By appropriating the use of equipment and social technologies, Xingu+ Network communicators take the lead in internal communication and political articulation between different people in the Xingu River Basin, and contribute to the prevention, issuing of alerts and monitoring of illegal activities in the Areas Protected from the Xingu.

Follow them @comunicadoresxingumais on Instagram!