Another Video, YouTube too

A further short has been added to Vimeo, and is embedded below:

This is about the proposed Belo Monte dam, which the Brazilian government is driving through the licensing process with reckless haste.

The Belo Monte dam would be the third largest in the world. As much earth moving would be required to build it as was needed to build the Panama Canal.

Yet the Brazilian government has been trying to railroad the scheme through on a very tight timescale, riding roughshod over the tatters of Brazilian environmental legislation and ignoring the requirements of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which Brazil voted to endorse less than a year ago.

A development of this size, with the potential to reverse much of the progress Brazil has made in the last few years in reducing the rate of deforestation, should be fully discussed, with all its ramifications explored in detail to reach a balanced and reasoned decision about its environmental, social and financial viability before deciding if it should be built or if it should be abandoned forever.

This video includes footage from the demonstration and attempts to highlight the problems the scheme will bring to this so-far well preserved area of the Amazon.

For anyone who has problems viewing the Vimeo embeds, the two videos are available on YouTube here:

Belo Monte

Heart of Brazil

And Finally, the Heart of Brazil Video

It has taken a long time to get together the resources to edit and produce a video based on the footage we shot during the Heart of Brazil Expedition.

The full length cut is nearing completion and should run to about 35 minutes. The video below is a 4-minute trailer. If you would like to purchase a copy of the full video on DVD, check back in a week or two.

Our thanks go to Andy Fairgrieve for his unstinting efforts and the many, many hours he has put in to directing and editing the video.

We would like to thank Sydney Possuelo, the renowned Brazilian sertanist and expert on ‘uncontacted’ tribes, for the interview. We are also grateful to Gerard and Margi Moss for giving their permission for the inclusion of the Flying Rivers animation – see their site www.riosvoadores.com.br .

This version of the short video is uploaded at high quality and may therefore take some time to download, especially on slower internet connections. A lower quality version will shortly be available on YouTube – watch this space!

Heart of Brazil in Kingston upon Thames

The Heart of Brazil Exhibition is back in the UK. From the 16th October to the 21st November 2009, it will be on show at the Penny School Gallery, Kingston upon Thames. The exhibition will be open Tuesday to Saturday 11.00am to 4.00pm.

If you can’t make these times phone Rosemary Williams on 020 8939 4603 or click here to email Penny School Gallery
Click here for a pdf with more information

Click here for an A4 Poster about Tribes Alive in pdf format.

Click here for an A3 Poster about the exhibtion in pdf format.

During the exhibition Sue will be at the gallery to discuss her work and the work of Tribes Alive/IPCST on 22nd October, 2nd November and 19th November between 7.00 and 8.30pm.

Composer, performer and IPCST founder Emily Burridge will be performing ‘Into The Amazon’ live on 21st October and 11th November at 7.00pm, and there will be an opportunity for questions and answers at the end of the performance.

These events are free of charge, but we would appreciate a donation to IPCST’s Tribes Alive programme. To help with seating arrangements, please phone or email as above to let us know you will be attending any of the events.

Exhibition at the Caixa Cultural Gallery, São Paulo

The Heart of Brazil Exhibition is currently running at the Neuter Michelon Gallery, Caixa Cultural, Caixa Economica Federal, Praça da Sé, São Paulo, Brazil. The exhibition will close next Sunday, the 21st June 2009.

On show are 150 striking images from the Heart of Brazil Expedition, and an installation in the form of a symbolised tree.

The exhibition has been a huge success, attracting many school and university groups, as well as a constant stream of ‘casual’ visitors.

The Heart of Brazil Exhibition in Brasilia

The Heart of Brazil Exhibition opened today at the Memorial of Indigenous People (Memorial dos Povos Indígenas), Praça do Buriti, Brasilia.

For the first time, the images from the Heart of Brazil Expedition will be seen in public in Brazil.

“It is vitally important for me that these images can be seen by the people of Brazil,” said Sue Cunningham, speaking at the official opening yesterday evening.

“I did not mount the exhibition so that people could just look at lovely pictures. I want people to really think about what they are looking at; examples of the strong and vibrant indigenous cultures of the original Brazilians, but cultures and people who are under ever-increasing threats from the alien society which surrounds them.”

The venue is important too. Designed to celebrate the indigenous people of Brazil by Oscar Niemeyer, and based on inspiration from the great Yanomami mallocas, the indigenous people were denied the use of the building for 17 years until 1999. Last year, Marcos Terena became its first indigenous co-ordinator, and the building is at last coming to life as a centre of indigenous culture.

On the Brazilian Day of the Indian, 19th April, a new technology centre was officially opened. Equipped with computers donated by the United Nations, it will bring young Indians into the centre to learn information technology skills.

The exhibition will continue until the 17th July.

Sue and Patrick Cunningham, on behalf of IPCST, would like to take this opportunity to extend our sincere thanks to HSBC, who have generously supported the staging of the exhibition, and to the British Embassy and Ambassador Peter Collecott for their support and encouragement. We also thank Marcos Terena and the many individuals, organisations and companies who have encouraged and supported us to make this exhibition a reality.

We constantly remember the great warmth and openness with which we were received by the 48 indigenous communities we visited during the expedition; they are the stars of the show, and this exhibition is for and about them. We hope that, in its small way, it will help them to support and maintain the rivers and forests of the Xingu basin, for the well-being of Brazil and for the good of the planet.