Xingu Entangled

Fidel Thomet, Nadia Zeissig

Summary
The indigenous communities of the Upper Xingu recognise objects, places, events, organisms, and spiritual actors as intertwined entities that form entangled lifeworlds. How can we overcome artefact-centric museal practices and disciplinary boundaries to adequately represent indigenous perspectives?
Between Stage 2 & 3
Installation
English
Off Stage
Xingu Entangled exhibition view at Existência Numérica, Rio de Janeiro, 2024

Xingu Entangled is an interactive video exhibit documenting material practices and knowledges from the indigenous communities of the Upper Xingu. By weaving objects, places, events, organisms, and spiritual actors into non-linear narratives and data structures, Xingu Entangled surfaces their complex interrelations. By emphasising boundary objects over physical artefacts, it bridges disciplinary domains and effectively communicates manifold perspectives. The interactive capacity of the two-channel installation invites visitors to explore the possibilities of user-guided navigation along the data relations and video clips, while also offering situated storytelling with voices and perspectives from the Xingu community.

The display is the first case study of the Amazonia Future Lab aimed at illustrating the potential for collaboration between academia, design practice, and indigenous knowledge. The lab is a collaboration between indigenous communities from the Upper Xingu and the Rio Negro, the SPK (Ethnological Museum Berlin, IAI, IfM), the Botanical Garden Berlin, the Museu Nacional Rio de Janeiro, and the Urban Complexity Lab (FH Potsdam).