UFMT launches book on Indigenous technologies and architectures in Mato Grosso

The Center for Studies and Research in Indigenous Technologies, Tecnoíndia—founded by UFMT professor José Afonso Botura Portocarrero, an architect with a PhD from the School of Architecture and Urbanism at USP, and retired UFMT anthropologist Maria Fátima Roberto Machado, who holds a PhD from the National Museum of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro—is releasing a new book that compiles articles produced over 20 years of research and teaching on Indigenous technologies and architecture in Mato Grosso.

Affiliated with the Department of Architecture and Urbanism at UFMT, the Center is coordinated by Professor Dorcas Araújo, head of the department, who also serves as the book's editor. The volume features seven other authors, including professors such as Ricardo Castor (PhD from USP) and Yara Galdino (PhD from UFRJ), alongside undergraduate and graduate students. A moving testimony by Bakairi architect Jucimar Ipaikire, Brazil's first Indigenous architect and a collaborator of the Center, richly concludes the book's contributions.

Our book does not speak for others; it does not represent others. We speak for ourselves, seeking to engage in transdisciplinary dialogue within a public university, in scientific fields that do not lose their identity and are capable of making collective contributions through accumulated, reflected, and renewed knowledge. It is an exploration of Indigenous peoples' capacity to produce knowledge, to produce technology, expressed in the architectural value of their dwellings. – Maria Fátima R. Machado

The anthropologist notes that the book is an attempt to go beyond hollow discourses on inclusion, “which often do nothing but weaken the victories we have an obligation to preserve and carry forward.” She opens the chapters with the article “The Great Siege of the Ancestral House,” a piece that reflects on both colonial disputes in Mato Grosso since the 18th century and the future of “architecture without architects.” 

The book comprises 10 chapters with articles ranging from architecture and anthropology to arts and communication. Publisher Entrelinhas has previously released other works by the Center's members: the now-classic “Tecnologias Indígenas em Mato Grosso: Habitação” [Indigenous Technologies in Mato Grosso: Housing], now in its second edition (including a bilingual first edition), by Professor José Afonso Botura Portocarrero; and two works by Professor Maria Fátima R. Machado: “Museu Rondon: Antropologia e Indigenismo na Universidade da Selva” [Rondon Museum: Anthropology and Indigenism in the University of the Jungle], the result of her post-doctoral research at the National Museum, and “Diversidade Sociocultural em Mato Grosso” [Sociocultural Diversity in Mato Grosso], for which she served as editor and co-author. 

We hope that the paths of research continue to bring us closer together, establishing relationships and strengthening partnerships based on our differences and shared understandings. This is the challenge throughout the trajectory of the Tecnoíndia Center: for all of us to be together—Indigenous peoples, researchers from all fields, and Brazilian society. – José Afonso B. Portocarrero

The Center originated in 2002 with the research of its founders, who won a public call from the Ministry of Health for Indigenous health units inspired by “the first Brazilian houses”—Indigenous dwellings. Since then, the Center has accumulated experience that has resulted in architectural projects in urban contexts, conference presentations, and national and international publications, as well as a course on Indigenous technologies in the curriculum of UFMT's Department of Architecture, a pioneering initiative in Brazil. The Center's social media channels also serve as a space for scientific outreach.

“Tecnoíndia: Arquitetura, antropologia e tecnologias indígenas em Mato Grosso” will have copies available for donation to public libraries, educational and research institutions, and Indigenous associations. Those interested can get in touch via email at tecnoindialivro@gmail.com, through their Facebook page, or on Instagram @tecnoindia.arq. For individual buyers, the book is available for purchase on the Entrelinhas publisher website. Download the first 30 pages here to access the book's introduction.