The Climate Crisis Is Also a Subjectivity Crisis, Says Indigenous Artist Gustavo Caboco
Caboco, a star in Brazils latest Art Biennial, denounces colonial heritage that excludes Indigenous peoples
Apr.25.2023 1:08PM
Cristiane Fontes
OXFORD
For Gustavo Caboco Wapichana, the so-called climate crisis is, in fact, a generalisation for a range of different relationships that we have with the world. According to him, it could be understood as a consequence of our colonial history, with impacts on our identities and on how we exercise our subjectivities.
Caboco is a multi-artist. He introduces himself as someone born in Curitiba-Roraima — drawing our attention not only to his place of birth, the state capital of Paraná, but also to the territory of his people and families, the Canauanim Indigenous Land, in Cantá (25 km from Boa Vista). His work challenges the historical context that led his own family into forced displacement.
Through his drawings, paintings, embroideries, animations, texts, and performances, Caboco externalises his reflections on how his mother was kidnapped by a missionary in 1968, among other topics. He seeks to strengthen the memories of Indigenous peoples, as well as their multiple histories and stories, their ways of life, and their resistance — which are all still present across the country, and not only in the Amazon.
'When we talk about coloniality, people think about the 1500s, as if it were not happening now — both in current State-led mechanisms and in our education, based on the exclusion of Indigenous peoples', he says. Gustavo adopted Caboco as his last name because it is part of his affective memory, but also as a provocation.
More:
https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/scienceandhealth/2023/04/the-climate-crisis-is-also-a-subjectivity-crisis-says-indigenous-artist-gustavo-caboco.shtml
