Indianist Artwork and Ethnographic Exhibits at the World's Fairs, 1862-1889 Sven Schuster
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RIHA Journal 0127 | 1 September 2015 The "Brazilian Native" on Display: Indianist Artwork and Ethnographic Exhibits at the World's Fairs# 1%&'($%%) *ven *ch+ster Editing and peer review managed by: Regina Wenninger, Zentralinstitut f r !unstgeschi"#te, $uni"# -eviewers: Jens %aumgarten, Amy %uono Abstract Between 1862 and 1889, the Empire of Brazil participated in the most important world's fairs in Europe and North America. Althou h these mass atherin e!ents focused on technolo ical de!elopment and commodities, representations of Brazil's population and culture also pla"ed an important role in the elites' pro#ect to promote a $pro ressi!e and ci!ilized$ countr" abroad. Ne!ertheless, the e&hi%ition planners not onl" displa"ed machines, scientific instruments and manufactures oods. 'or them, it was e(uall" important to com%ine ideas of modernit" with the cele%ration of a lorious pre)*olum%ian past. B" this line of thou ht, the Empire of Brazil emer ed as the result of a lon )term teleolo ical process, takin ancient indi enous cultures as its historical startin point. ,owe!er, this discourse, as e&emplified %" Indianist artwor+ and ethno raphic e&hi%its, was hi hl" am%i!alent. .ontents Intro'uction (ispla&ing t#e )*oble Sa+age) Forging a )%ra-ilian Anti.uit&) /onclusion Introd+ction .1/Between 1862 and 1889, the Empire of Brazil under 0. 1edro -- participated in the most important world's fairs in Europe and North America. Durin this period, no other 2atin American countr" in!ested more resources in international e&hi%itions.1 Althou h the fairs in 2ondon 318624, 1aris 318654, 6ienna 318574, 1hiladelphia 318564 and again 1aris 318894 focused on technolo ical de!elopment and commodities, representations of Brazil's population and culture also pla"ed an important role in the elites' pro#ect to displa" the monarch" as $the most ad!anced part of the tropics.$2 8ithin the hu e %od" 1 'or -mperial Brazil at the world's fairs, see 9ar arida de :ouza Ne!es, $Los escaparates del pro reso. Brasil en las e&posiciones internacionales del si lo ;-;,$ in: La nación expuesta. Cultura visual y procesos de formación de la nación en América Latina, ed. :!en :chuster, Bo ot= 2>1?, 87)1>>@ AosB Luiz 8ernec+, As arenas pacíficas do progresso, 1hD diss. 3Cni!ersidade 'ederal 'luminense4, Dio de Aaneiro 1992@ Lilia 9oritz :chwarcz, $Es trFpicos como espetáculo< a participação %rasileira nas e&posiGIes uni!ersais de finais do sBculo ;-;,$ in: Galerías del progreso. Museos, exposiciones y cultura visual en América Latina, ed. Beatriz Jonzález):tephan and Aens Andermann, Dosario 2>>6, 19K)219@ 2L!ia Lazarro Dezende, The !a" and the Manufactured# $razilian Modernity and &ational 'dentity as (rojected in 'nternational Exhi+itions ,-./01-2003, 1hD diss. 3Do"al *olle e of Art4, London 2>1>@ :andra Aatah" 1esa!ento, Exposi45es universais. Espetáculos da modernidade do século 7'7, :ão 1aulo 1995@ 9aria -nez Murazzi, (oses e trejeitos# a fotografia e as exposi45es na era do espetáculo, Dio de Aaneiro 199K@ Aens Andermann, $Mournaments of 6alue< Ar entina and Brazil in the A e of Exhi%itions,$ in: 8ournal of Material Culture, 1?N7 32>>94, 777)767. 2 'rancisco - nacio de *ar!alho 9oreira, !elatorio so+re a Exposi4ão 'nternacional de -./0, London 1867, 2. License: The text of this article is provided under the terms of the Creative Commons License CC-BY4NC-ND 3.07 RIHA Journal 0127 | 1 September 2015 of literature on national representations of 2atin American countries at the world's fairs, there is a rowin consensus that the e&hi%itions or anizers O the $wizards of pro ress,$ as 9auricio Menorio Mrillo has called them O used these e!ents to define how a modern nation could and should loo+.7 B" no means did the" desire to deli!er an accurate picture of the social, cultural and economic realities of their countries, which the" felt were not "et a match for European le!els of material pro ress. 'or Imperial Brazil, the world's fairs were instead an e&cellent opportunit" to emulate its European and North American $mentors,$ at least in a sym%olic manner. .2/In this conte&t, recent studies ha!e increasin l" focused on the !isual and performati!e dimension of the world's fairs.? Csuall", the images pro#ected at the e&hi%ition rounds durin the second half of the nineteenth centur" centered on three main ideals: $pro ress,$ $ci!ilization$ and $race.$ Mo this effect, Brazil and its :panish) American nei h%ors mounted stands and pa!ilions to promote their manufactured products, their hu e natural resources, as well as to encoura e the immi ration of European settlers O not onl" to increase the agricultural wor+force, %ut also with the intention to $%etter the race.$K .7/Ne!ertheless, Brazil's e&hi%ition or anizers did not #ust display machines, scientific instruments or manufactured oods, as most European !isitors would ha!e e&pected of a modern nation. 'or them, it was e(uall" important to com%ine ideas of modernit" with the cele%ration of a lorious pre)*olum%ian past. Accordin to this perspecti!e, the Empire of Brazil appeared as the result of a lon )term teleolo ical process, takin ancient indi enous cultures as its historical startin point. As a wa" of nation)%uildin , 0. 1edro's !ast realm was presented as the culmination of thousands of "ears of $American ,istor",$ refutin certain European ideas of the New 8orld O a $continent without histor"$ O in the words of ,e el.6 Mherefore, the Brazilian e&hi%ition or anizers presented a wide ran e of pre)*olum%ian o%#ects at the world's fairs pavilions, usuall" stemmin from Dio de Aaneiro's National 9useum, which specialized in Natural ,istor", Ethnolo " and Anthropolo ".5 Besides those ethno raphic displa"s, the" also e&hi%ited paintin s, sculptures and photo raphs, enerall" portra"in Dousseau)inspired $no%le sa!a es.$ .?/Mhou h Brazil could hardl" surpass the splendor of 9e&ico's and 1eru's pre),ispanic temples at the world's fairs, the Imperial elite tried hard to construct its own $Anti(uit",$ 7 9auricio Menorio Mrillo, Mexico at the :orld;s <airs# Crafting a Modern &ation, Ber+ele" 1996, ?8. ? -n the case of Brazil, the aforementioned studies of Ne!es, Andermann, Dezende and Murazzi ha!e a clear focus on !isual and material culture. K Mhomas :+idmore, (reto no +ranco. !aça e nacionalidade no pensamento +rasileiro, Dio de Aaneiro 1956, 1K?)162. 6 Jeor Wilhelm 'riedrich ,e el, =orlesungen >+er die (hilosophie der Gesc ichte, :tutt art 1989 .1822)1875/, 1?>)1?1. 5 L. de *astro 'aria, As exposi45es de antropologia e ar?ueologia do Museu &acional, Dio de Aaneiro 19?9, 8)1>. License: The text of this article is provided under the terms of the Creative Commons License CC-BY4NC-ND 3.07 RIHA Journal 0127 | 1 September 2015 focusin primaril" on the relics of the e&tinct Amazonian 9ara#F)culture.8 Mhus, after se!eral unsatisfactor" attempts %etween 1862 and 1856, Brazil's foremost ethnolo ists and anthropolo ists finall" succeeded in mountin an elaborate ethno raphic display within the so)called Amazonian 1a!ilion at the 1aris Cni!ersal E&hi%ition of 1889. Ironicall", this achie!ement coincided with the downfall of the Empire, which was o!erthrown %" a militar" coup on No!em%er 1K, 1889, #ust two wee+s after the closure of the e&hi%ition. E!erall, the elite's intention to create a $Brazilian Anti(uit",$ an e(ui!alent to Europe's Jreco)Doman past, was dri!en %" its desire to stren then its own le itimacy as the $descendants of no%le races" which had supposedl" populated the continent %efore the arri!al of *olum%us. In some elite clu%s of the :econd Dei n 318?>)18894 it e!en %ecame fashionable to stud" indi enous lan uages such as Mupi or to include supposedl" indi enous sym%ols into one's coat of arms.9 Ne!ertheless, Brazil's Indianist discourse was hi hl" am%i!alent. .K/En the one hand, man" mem%ers of the elite concei!ed the countr"'s pre)*olum%ian histor" as a lar e collection of items that could %e used deli%eratel" to create a sort of proto)national nucleus, in order to pro!ide the nation under construction with a suitable m"th of ori in. ,owe!er, the lorification of all thin s Indian did not include Brazil's e&istin indi enous population %ut onl" some $ad!anced %ut e&tinct$ cultures, therefore separatin past and present in an artificial wa". 8hile the abstract nation)state with its homo enizin force should appear as the le itimate heir of a reat $American ci!ilization,$ the contemporar" descendants of those $no%le races" were %" no means empowered throu h this discourse.1> In fact, man" of the e&istin indi enous tri%es in the !ast Brazilian hinterland were re arded as o%stacles to pro ress and therefore acti!el" com%atted. In this conte&t, earl" Brazilian ethnolo ists and anthropolo ists de!eloped an instrumental approach to indi enous cultures, which the" rasped as useful $deposits" pro!idin elements for the official narration of a $ lorious past.$11 .6/8ith few e&ceptions, the role of artistic Indianism and ethno raph" as part of the Brazilian sections at the world's fairs has not "et %een e&plored in a profound manner.12 :ince the anal"sis of Indianist artwor+ and ethno raphic displa"s at the fairs re!eals little understood aspects of Brazil nationalism, this is a true academic !oid.