PSTA Prince's School of Traditional Arts Master in Traditional Arts

The Sacred and Traditional Arts: Principles and Criteria

in relation to the Kuikurus body painting
Aline Mariom Bogo da Silva

London, January 2012

The Sacred and Traditional Arts: Principles and Criteria

in relation to the Kuikurus body painting
Aline Mariom Bogo da Silva Introduction This essay is an attempt to understand the relations between sacred and traditional arts, having as object of study the body painting of the Kuikurus Brazilian indians. The reason that made me choose this subject is my personal admiration for their traditional life style, in ways that will be clear throughout this work, and their appearance that looks like a piece of art when seen as a whole, where every aspect and detail1 of their culture is connected to another, giving them an aspect of unity and purity. Although they accepted some influence of the caraba2, they strongly conserve their culture. I will give a brief introduction about the Kuikuru's universe before discussing their relations with the traditional and sacred arts. My effort is to discuss these relations and customs as an authentic view of the world, not minor or primitive, considering that their knowledge, history, religion and social structure makes sense in their particular way of living, with their specific criteria and principles, and that should be considered equally valid as any other conceptions and judgements of any other group of the world. Who are the Kuikurus The Kuikurus are an ethnic group of people that live in Mato Grosso, in central-west of Brazil, on the margins of the Xingu river, inside of the Xingu National Park, speaking of the Carib language. According to Franchetto, the name Kuikuru is an interpretation from the caraba to the original name, Kuhikugu (fishy pout).3 In 2004, they were divided in three groups, the biggest one called Ipatse tomo, with 300 indians,
1

Like their architecture, songs, prays, dances, rites, ceremonies, arts and crafts, the way they keep and cook their meals, their games.
2

As they call the non indians, normally the white people. FRANCHETTO, Bruna. Kuikuru. 2004.

the Ahukugi tomo, with 100 indians, and the Lahatu tomo, with 30 indians. The number of inhabitants is suspected to be growing overtime, some saying that there is a new village called Paraso. However, according to Franchetto, in the same region there is evidence of indians habitation since 950 A.D, sharing the same structure of a circular aldeia4 with a central courtyard, as it still is nowadays.3

Aerial view of the Ipatse aldeia

In that time, the Aruak ethnic group inhabited this place with approximately 10 thousand indians, with aldeias with 20 to 50 hectares. Comparing the numbers, is easy to see that a lot of them vanished from history, most were intentionally killed, or died from some of the European diseases, such as flu and measles. It is believed that the indians now called Kuikurus arrived in that region during the first half of the 18th Century, when they escaped from colonizers from further east. Motivated by the same reasons, multiples indians groups moved to this place since, helping them to evolve agriculture, fishing and another techniques. The group that lives there now, the Kuikurus, is the result of a huge mixture and combination of culture and history of various indian groups that went to this area looking for a pacific place to live.3 However, it is still unknown for the
4

Aldeia could be translated as village, is related to the particular habitation structure of some indians.

anthropologists how this combination happened. According to the Kuikurus legends, they emerged together through welcoming rites, without any war. And they still consciously celebrate rites from different indian groups.8 Tribe or Civilisation? I could mention some of the similarities between the considered tribal societies such as brazilian indians, african, north american indians and australian groups: the lack of writing (traditionally), production without envisaging profit, their way of living according to the environment around them, respect to the older, little differentiation between sacred and profane, etc. But there is a few common mistakes when discussing tribal societies. For Srgio Figueiredo Ferreti, According to Godelier a lot of new anthropologists refuse the use of these concepts [tribal society] as been theoretical false and politically harmful. Out of Africa, in the Burma context, Leach (1972, p.332) says that the tribal concept must be taken off of the anthropology vocabulary, as absolutely inappropriate, and that should be substituted for culture or ethnic. He (1972, p. 331) also says that [the term] tribe is an academic and ethnographic fiction." 5 Considering the imprecise definition of tribal societies and to avoid any misjudgment, the Kuikurus in this essay are referred instead just as indians. This consideration is emphasized by the assumption that the Kuikurus, such as these other ethnic groups around the world, should be studied first as if they were unique, as the nation that they were before the colonizers. After all, they have specific languages, mythologies, social organization, religion and culture, that differs from one another, and should be considered as any other ethnic group of people. For example, the europeans Italian and British are considered more than just a white group, but regarded with their own characteristics and history, despite all the similarities. Here I will consider the Kuikurus as a group of indians that one day were a nation, probably with the size of any other european community at that time. Considering what Coomaraswamy says about the ideological true civilisation, it is possible to affirm that the Kuikurus are a civilisation, although small. They have a strong desire to live as the City of God, quoted by the author, translated in their movement of always going back to their original world through their ceremonies and day by day practice. It is easy to consider all the powers of the soul, projected by the mind towards their objects, are 'extensions'... of an invisible principle, and it is this 'tonic power' by which it is enable to perceive them. or even: Thus the
5

FERRETTI, Srgio Figueiredo. Repensando o Sincretismo. So Paulo. Edusp. 1995

ideal society is thought of as a kind of co-operative work-shop in which production is to be for use and not for profit, and all human needs, both of the body and the soul, are to be provided for.as a truth for the Kuikurus, as I try to clarify later on this essay.6 Religion According to George Zarur, the Kuikurus indians have a clear and rich religious narrative and spiritual hierarchy. Mawutzinin is considered the creator of the universe and responsible for the creation of the humankind. He is often related as their God, and considered as supernatural. Their history of the human creation is associated with a sin among one member of the aldeia, that as a consequence broke apart the spiritual world from the material world, and from that all the men would be no longer capable of spiritual, but only material, creation. In the Ipatse aldeia, just the pair of prayers can refer the sacred words to God. There is no individual pray to God and they think that God cannot interfere in their day by day life, and that's why in their prayers they don't ask anything to God, for them, God is considered a final cause. Also, He cannot punish or threat the sinners. Considered as a human flaw, all the sins are judged by the community and not by God. For them, most of the people are good, and it is common and accepted (sometimes punished) to make mistakes. Only the feitieiros (wizards) are considered mean, and such evil is hereditary and there is no healing.7 After Mawutzinin, as a secondary religious figure, they have the twins Moon and Sun, then comes the invisible (to most of the people) but natural forces, spirits that live in the jungle, called mamas, responsible for the dissemination of diseases and spells. All the knowledge about the material and spiritual world, about other aldeias, arts and crafts, cooking, planting and hunting, about the sacred histories and myths are passed from one generation to the other orally and through traditional rites and ceremonies.8 According to the legend about the Mawutzinin, and the creation of the world, nowadays the rites are only parties, and they work as a remembrance of the original rites, referred in their cosmology in the original world existent before the creation of the humankind. The same principle applies to the original fruits that were bigger and better, original animals, original people, original music, the original world, that is kept at a distance from them, and now they live as an attempt to get closer to that world. For them, the rites are a way to justify and orientate the present according to the original world. (Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, pag.68-70)8
6 7

COOMARASWAMY, Amanda Kentish. What is Civilisation and other essays. Golgonooza Press. 1989. ZARUR, George de Cerqueira Leite. O Kuarup Xinguano e os Universais da Narrativa Religiosa, 2003. CASTRO, Eduardo Viveiros. A Inconstncia da Alma Selvagem. Cosac & Naif, So Paulo, 2002.

Social Organization Watching some videos of and about the Kuikurus, I could realise that all the aldeia works in an integrated movement, where nothing seems to be random. The Pags (shamans) act as spiritual leader, so as political leader, together with the Cacique. But his commands are related to the divine forces, and all important decisions are made by the contact with the higher world and after long discussions with the indians of the aldeia. All indians of the aldeia have their owns responsibilities, sometimes commanded by the Pags, sometimes conquered by their owns efforts. One who doesn't participate on the day-by-day obligations on the community can suffer severs punishments, as expulsion from the village, not first without trying to heal this person with some not very conventional methods. For the Kuikurus, everything happens in a social level: the individualism has little space, unless the indian has a great force or power inside the community or on the social relations with another indians and people. But even so, the decisions are made by consultancy of all the group and approved by the Pag, and the movements are related to the needs of the people. They live under severe social rules for what they think as important, as the social responsibilities, and can be very flexible on matters that dont affect the community. Kuikuru's Sacred and Traditional Arts The graphic motives used by the Kuikurus, as most of the indian groups, are a reflection of their cosmological world, their beliefs, and their way of seing life. It's about a form of expression that puts in evidence, in a day-by-day use, the tessellation between aesthetic and another domain of the intellect. Its efficiency is the ability of stablishing communication with a reality of another order that one could only know through mythology and through the codified group of patterns.9 Their paintings and patterns are a way to access their past and their mythological history, as well to stablish a contact with the Higher truth.9 All of their patterns have a beginning in a myth, normally associated with supra-animals, sometimes called Itseke (animal-spirit). The jaguar, some birds, fishes, lizards, all of these animals makes part of their rich liturgical knowledge. The use of their art in ceremonies and even on day-by-day is a way to connect them to their real form, to the origin, to the source of life. The constant use of shapes that can be eternally repeated is a proof of that. Their
9

Dossi Iphan / Wajpi. Expresso grfica e oralidade entre os Wajpi do Amap. Inprinta, Braslia - DF, 2002.

patterns don't have beginning or end. The sensation of eternity is passed through their art and architecture, as a visitor described: The Kuikuru aldeia is arranged in a circle, in the centre there is only the house of the man, the holly space and the guardian of the jakus (bamboo flute, long, that can only be seen and played by men, with some exceptions). At night... is easy to loose the reference of where you were and where you are going to. The arrange of the houses in circles eliminates the point of origin. In the middle is the infinite, the combination and congruence of the energy of them all.10 By seing the display of the village the notion of origin and continuous or eternal movement is clear, and this movement is also clear on the repetition of their patterns. Through the use of geometrical shapes and high contrast, they posses a very precise and synthetic way of expressing themselves, of expressing their divine origin. According to Titus Burckhardt, all sacred art transcends the individual expression, and it is always born from a revelation of a divine truth, and will always be a symbol of its original archetype. It's not only a religious theme, but it's a particular arrange of language, methods and rules that are capable of transmitting eternal symbols even if the artist himself is not capable of understanding all of his crafts principles.11 The revelation of an archetype, or the complete understanding of it, is not reached by the common artists, and that is why the tradition is so important. The tradition will be the line that connects the common artists and the general public to that divine truth, to that original archetype, and that truth will transcends their own limitations. By introducing randomly new aspects or letting the individual ego transform the essential base or the essential truth behind the material form of an sacred work of art, is like cutting the connecting line. This does not mean that all the traditional art, or secular art in the common sense is sacred, but all the sacred art only lives through tradition. Body Painting All the Kuikurus narrative about their arts and crafts are related to their religious beliefs, and they are passed through the generations by means of tradition. When asked about the origin of their art, they answer with a poor portuguese this is the way it is, this is the way that is true for the kuikurus. As their culture is orally transmitted and they are only using documentation methods recently, apart from the tradition of direct teaching master-student, there is no way to keep their
10

Maria Luiza Pinheiro Guimares Fragoso, 2003. http://www.tracaja-e.net/pag30_cap4a.html BURCKHARDT, Titus. Sacred Art in East and West, principles and methods. Pp 7-14. United Kingdom, 1986.

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messages alive. And being true for them, their artisanship knowledge is easily absorbed. Their methods of painting, and materials, are the only way for them, and are always reinforced by their rites. The art of body painting is learned since child, and everyone on the community is able to make this paintings, but they recognise the good painters from the bad ones, and when the painting must be special, are the good ones who are responsible for the work. The pigments used on the paint for the body painting come from thoughtful and controlled sources. The black is made from the genipap fruit, the red comes from the annatto seed mixed with vegetal oil and water, the white from the tabatinga soil found under the Xingu river, and the (not very often used) yellow extracted from the pequi fruit. They have a specific technique for extracting and preparing their paints. Their brushes are made with a stick of wood with cotton fibres for thick lines, and made with a palm tree stick chewed on the tip, used as a normal brush for precise lines.12
The grater for the genipap fruit The genipap paint ready to use

Preparation of the red paint from the annatto seed

12

http://pib.socioambiental.org/pt/povo/kuikuro/715

The Kuarup Ceremony and the Jaguar Character Every body painting of the Kuikurus is related to a specific mythology or mythological being, and they make this paintings according to the rite or ceremony that they will perform. Normally the painting is related to a spiritual character that they will invoke during a ceremony. In this essay, I analyse one specific body painting used on the Kuarup ceremony, when they cry for their recent dead ones for the last time. It's a goodbye party for the spirit of the dead ones, that only after this party go away for the spiritual world.13 For their ceremonies, the active participants are carefully chosen, with the interference of all indians and spirits evoked by the Pags, but all the participants are free to deny the offer, because some rituals can be dangerous and painful. Although the ceremonies happen frequently, it is an important role in the aldeia to be a participant, never been underestimated. The invitations are always made with a complex system of tessellating the information about the indians, their talents and wills. Some say that it's possible to feel the tension in the air during this days on the aldeia, because these will be the indians that will evoke the spirits responsible for this passage to the kingdom of the dead ones. It's a honour and a great challenge for the indians, that must be capable of evoking and transfiguring themselves into these spirits.13 In the Kuarup ceremony each character is represented by a pair or a trio of indians, one complementing the other. One important character of this ceremony is the Jaguar, called Ekege, in this case, represented by a pair of indians, a male and a female.13 Analysing the Jaguar and its Geometrical Shape The jaguar is an important figure for the Kuikurus. The story about the creation of the world by Mawutzinin mentions the fight between the fish and the jaguar, that would define their places on earth, and considers the marriage between the jaguar and the daughter of Mawutzinin, the creation and materialization of all the humankind. Some characteristics of the jaguar are power, nobility and ability to see and predict.7 It's possible to say that the Jaguar for the Kuikurus is a character that symbolises the transformation of the spiritual man to the material man on the moment of the humankind creation.

13

PENONI, Isabel Rineiro. Hagaka: Ritual, performance e fico entre os Kuikuro to Alto Xingu (MT, Brasil). Rio de Janeiro, 2010.

The jaguar character

Just as the disposition of the village, the figure that represents the skin of the jaguar is a circle with a defined centre. As Plato defines, the circle or the sphere are the representation of heaven, where the radius is always the same, pointing from the centre to any part of the circumference. So the circle with its centre can symbolise the metamorphose of the eternal (heaven) to the material (earth) in the following way: the centre can be understood as the eternal origin, and the circumference as the material world radiated from the origin, and a radiation will always reflect its origin. Just as the metamorphose of the jaguar, from the spiritual world to an human being, on the material world. It is possible to see this relation between the middle point of the circle and it's circumference by zooming on the inner dot, or the point of origin of the circle, that enlarged give us its outer circumference, and also its middle point, the origin. It's a never-ending movement.

The colour black, the most common colour of the Kuikuru's art tradition, can symbolise the same principle, of coming from the light eternal origin, to the dark material earthly world. Conclusion Although small in number, and simple on their art expression, the Kuikurus represent a great (spiritually) traditional civilisation, where their day by day life are still direct related to their religious and spiritual beliefs. Worth of admiration because even with a hugh social pressure still live according to their true higher laws.