"Between Tradition & Modernity: The Bororo in Photographs of the 1930s"

a guest lecture by Austrian ethnologist Christian Feest

Friday, Mar. 2, 3:30 p.m.

This event is co-sponsored by: Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies
Human Evolution and Social Change
College of LIberal Arts and Sciences
Location: Coor Hall 174
Campus: Tempe
Cost: Free

The School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies and the School of Human Evolution and Social Change present cultural anthropologist Christian Feest, former director of the Museum of Ethnology in Vienna.

Feest will discuss the Bororo of central Brazil, deemed the "crown jewel of anthropology" by Claude Levi-Strauss, who researched and photographed the Bororo in the 1930s, depicting a society almost completely untouched by influences of Neo-Brazilian society. Feest's presentation of the pictorial evidence is embedded in a discussion of history of the Bororo and their visual representation since the early 19th century. It also raises questions about the role of images in the study of material culture, the relationship between indigenous people, missionaries and anthropologists, as well as the nature of "tradition."

The co-author of more than 250 publications, Feest is currently curating an exhibition on American writing systems at the Musée Champollion in Figeac, France, and conducting research in Brazil and Mexico.