“Mirrors of Memory”: FGV CPDOC photo essay featuring Apinajé people competes for photography award

The photographic essay “Mirrors of Memory: Archival Images and the Recovery of the Past,” produced by Fundação Getulio Vargas’ School of Social Sciences (FGV CPDOC), has been nominated for the 2024 Pierre Verger Awards, run by the Brazilian Anthropology Association. The photo essay originated from a project titled “Indigenous Document Heritage: Collaborative Work Between FGV CPDOC and the Apinajé People.”

The images in the essay nominated for a prize were captured in 2023 during a visit to the village that marked the reunion of the Apinajé people with anthropologist Roberto DaMatta. Between the 1960s and 1970s, DaMatta carried out fieldwork in the people’s indigenous territory and, in 2022, he donated his collection to FGV CPDOC. This gave rise to a project to compile records of historical and cultural heritage in order to reinforce the historical, cultural and personal importance of the Apinajé people.

During the visit that led to the photo essay, the Apinajé people obtained access to part of DaMatta’s collection, which until then had been private. It was at this point that FGV CPDOC took photos of the indigenous people in possession of the material created over 40 years before.

The results of the Pierre Verger Awards, which are sponsored by the Brazilian Education Ministry’s graduate education support agency (CAPES) and the Wenner-Gren Foundation, will be announced during the 34th Brazilian Anthropology Meeting, which will take place from July 23 to 26 at Minas Gerais Federal University. This is the 12th edition of the awards in the Photographic Essays category and the first time that the FGV has been nominated for a prize.

The awards ceremony will be attended by the creators of the photo essay developed by FGV CPDOC: research assistant Laura Guimarães; the co-coordinator of FGV CPDOC’s Audiovisual and Documentary Center, Gabriel Cardoso; and student Andressa Iremex Apinajé, who is doing a master’s in cultural heritage and social projects.

Laura Guimarães believes that the nomination for an award will help publicize the project carried out in partnership with the Apinajé people. “The images in themselves are striking, illustrating a time lapse of more than four decades. The anthropological research initially carried out by DaMatta gave rise to photographic material, which is now returning in a different form and is also given new meaning by the Apinajé people. Based on this narrative, the photographic essay demonstrates the relevance of this archive returning to its place of origin, but with an updated character,” she says.

Gabriel Cardoso says that the photo essay also reproduces the main concept of FGV’s Indigenous Cultural Heritage Project. “The selection of images shows DaMatta being welcomed back at the village, after almost 50 years in possession of the material he produced. Based on the anthropologist’s archives, this FGV CPDOC project is also developing its own archive on an ongoing basis,” he says.

According to Amnhàk Apinajé, the nomination for a Pierre Verger Award strengthens the culture and identity of the Apinajé villages, as the collaborative work between the Apinajé people and FGV CPDOC has shown. “The nomination for this prize is received by us, the Apinajé people, with great honor and happiness, because it is the culmination of collective work for the recognition and cultural appreciation of our people, praising our resistance and exalting our true identity,” she says.

About the Apinajé people

The villages of Botica and São José are located around 20 miles from Tocantinópolis, Tocantins, in the Bico do Papagaio region. The territory is home to the culturally rich Apinajé people, members of the Northern Macro-Jê group, who have inhabited the area for more than 500 years. Roberto DaMatta’s original collection includes 3,000 photographs, dozens of cassette recordings and a Super-8 film. In addition to the photo essays, FGV CPDOC is also about to release a documentary about the Apinajé indigenous culture.

About the awards

The Pierre Verger Awards, organized by the Brazilian Anthropology Association, are one of the foremost competitions for films, photos and graphics produced as part of anthropological research in Latin America.

The awards have taken place every two years since the 20th Brazilian Anthropology Meeting, which was held in Salvador, Bahia in 1996, and they have continued at subsequent meetings of the Brazilian Anthropology Association. The awards’ organizing committee, which includes representatives of different regions of Brazil, is responsible for nominating entries and forwarding them to an independent jury of international renown.

To find out more about the photo essay “Mirrors of Memory: Archival Images and the Recovery of the Past,” click here.

To learn more about FGV CPDOC, click here.