“Memories of Brazil”, a lecture and slide presentation about native Brazilian art, presented by Edward Ziff, a retired research biochemist at NYU who now resides in Swan Lake, took place October 11 at the Liberty Museum and Arts Center. The exhibit opened October 4 and will run through November 16.

Liff traveled to Brazil in 2004 to give a seminar, and while there, was invited to participate in a grant application, which was eventually funded by The Universidad Federal del Grande Dourados, enabling him to return several times over a span of 14 years.

The presentation covered the creation and use of traditional clay ceramics and ceremonial rattles by the Kaiowai-Guarani people on two reservations–Jagapiru and Bororo–in and near the city of Dourados, which has a population of 250,000. It lies just north of the Paraguay border in the state of Mato de Grosse del Sol, which means “Southern Thick Forest” in Portuguese. The region is centered on the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland and has a population of 500,000. It is known for its agriculture, biodiversity, and ecotourism. Although the soil is predominantly clay, it is extremely fertile and produces millions of tons of corn and soybeans each year, 40% of which is exported to China.

Jaguapiru Aldeia (Portuguese for “village” or “reservation”) near Dourados is the small village where Ziff mingled with the indigenous Guarani-Kaiowan population, a tribe that existed before Europeans landed in the 1700s, and who also inhabit Paraguay, Argentina, and Bolivia.

They are a non-Christian, spiritual people who utilize rattles in their ceremonies, and who produce fired ceramic objects, which have become their major source of income. Guarani means “warrior” and the roughly 50,000 of them make up the largest group of tribal people, which is divided into subtribes throughout the region.

Their ceramics, which are made by the females, depict various animals and are also fashioned into plates, bowls, and urns. They are hand-painted with earth pigments in deliberately imperfect, symmetrical, geometric designs with white borders. The colors used are generally tones of orange, green, brown, black, and pink. The patterns follow a bilateral or radial symmetry, and the black pigment is derived from a native Brazilian wood resin. The Kadiweu tribe, which lives 75 miles northwest, uses black borders in their similarly patterned ceramics. 

The tribal lands are supported by the Brazilian government, but there have been recent clashes between large-scale real estate developers, who have been building residential communities, and the indigenous people. The land is highly valued, and in recent years, 142 natives were assassinated in Dourados, and prayer houses burned. One such occurrence, which destroyed a 180-year old prayer house containing precious artifacts, took place in 2019. A dedication ceremony honoring its reconstruction (Casa de Reza) in 2020, utilizing rattles and various high-pitched musical instruments, was videotaped by Ziff. Made from gourds, the rattles are tied at the base with reeds, filled with pebbles, and decorated with feathers. The video, as well as samples of the rattles, are on display, as well as various authentic ceramics and a vast array of photographs.

The Liberty Museum and Arts Center is located at 46 South Main Street, Liberty. It is open Fridays and Saturdays, Noon - 4pm. Contact Naomi Frumess, Curator, at 845-807-6656 or 845-807-6055.