Programme de bourses "Echanges Universitaires"

Postcolonial Research at museums-collections: work and knowledge-transfer on behalf of objects and photos of the collection Franz Caspar in Switzerland in co-operation with representatives of indigenous groups from the region of Guaporé, Brazil.

In the first week of July 2009 seven indigenous representatives from the region of Guaporé, Brazil and one employee of the Fundação Nacional do Indio (FUNAI) were invited to come to Switzerland and to do some research on the museum-collection in partnership with the anthropologist of the museum der Kulturen Basel. The indigenous visitors come from the state of Rondonia and belong to the most marginalised population group, up to now they have only restricted access to education. By looking at the historical collection of their traditional ritual and everyday objects – these objects were collected in 1950s by the Swiss anthropologist Franz Caspar – they were no more simple the objects and informants of the ethnographic researcher, but were themselves researcher, who looked at their own history in Europe.

Additionally, they gave the museum a collection of contemporary objects, which complete the historical collection. Besides the work in the archive there was a workshop with schoolchildren and two public events. It gave the indigenous a discussion forum to explain their difficult situation in the reservation.

After four days in Basel the indigenous travelled to Engadin.  On the way to the mountains they made a stopover at the ethnological museum in St. Gallen, where they discussed questions about the policy of representing indigenous cultures in exhibitions.  In Engadin they met a group of hunters and artists and spoke about sustainable agriculture and forestry, as well as about the relevance of cultural centres as a place of debate and reflection. This subject was of special interest because a cultural centre is planned in the reservation Rio Branco.

In the following two weeks the Indigenous visited other museums in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands and flew then back to Brazil.
With that project we could achieve our main aim to develop a scientific co-operation between Switzerland and Brazil in form of an intercultural dialogue.

Successful was also the collaboration between the public institutions and the indigenous groups and the joint, equal work on the collections, which is an important step towards a postcolonial museums-political practice. Methods of participative research on museums-collection were further developed and the knowledge of the indigenous and the anthropologist could be used synergetically. The contemporary, well documented collection of everyday objects from the indigenous is of great scientifically interest for the museum. Together with the historical collection the material culture of the indigenous from region of Guaporé can be seen over the time of more than 50 years.

To sum up one can state that the project was a success for both sides, for the partners in Brazil and in Switzerland, and a strong desire was expressed, to realise such cooperative projects also in the future.

Swiss Coordinator: Alexander Brust, M.A, Sarah Hess, B.A., Dr. Beatrice Kümin, Museum der Kulturen Basel (MKB)
Main foreign partners: Fundação Nacional do Indio (FUNAI) and indigenous representatives from the region of Guaporé, Brazil
Cooperation with: Brazil
Disciplines: Ethnology, Museology, Material culture

        Photo: Armando Jabutí und Analicia Makurap beim Vermessen einer Flöte, die nicht mehr hergestellt wird

Photo: Dalton Tuparí, José Augosto Kanoé und Armando Jabutí geben wertvolle Informationen zu Federschmuck

Contact addresses

Dr. Beatrice Kümin, Sarah Hess, B.A., Alexander Brust, M.A.
Abteilung Amerika
Museum der Kulturen Basel (MKB)
Augustinergasse 2
CH-4051 Basel
Tel. 061-2665682
Fax. 061-2665605
E-mail: Beatrice.Kuemin@bs.ch / alebrust@bluewin.ch / sarah.hess@bs.ch

Tanúzio Gonçalves de Oliveira
Posto Indígena em Rondônia – Fundação Nacional do Índio (FUNAI)
Rua doutor Paulo Séergio Ursulino 4550
Bairro Rendo, Alta Floresta d’Oeste Rondônia
CEP 78964-000
Brasil
Tel: (69) 3641 2778

Gleice Mere, Projectcoordinator in Brasil
E-Mail: gleicemere@yahoo.com