Reflections of a Baniwa artist

Abstract

In this interview, Denilson Baniwa (Barcelos, Amazon state, 1984) analyses his origin as an activist in the indigenous movement of the Amazon region, working as a graphic designer and social communicator. After moving to Manaus and, later on, to Niterói, Rio de Janeiro state, he took on a more active role as a visual artist and curator. During that time, he grew increasingly cognizant of the impact of the artistic symbols produced by Brazilian academicism in relation to his own history as an indigenous person. Baniwa then analyses the relationship between his art and the environmental crisis, believing that the interdisciplinary nature of his practice is an optimal medium to intervene in reality through the changing of consciousness of onlookers.