Between Continuity and Trace: Zahy Tentehar, Siba Puri, and Regimes of Presence in Contemporary Indigenous Arts

Abstract

The article examines transformations in contemporary Indigenous arts in Brazil, starting from the problem of the limits of the notion of “regimes of visibility” in understanding the insertion of these productions into the artistic field. Its objective is to expand this notion toward “regimes of presence,” in order to analyze how different Indigenous historical trajectories produce distinct forms of recognition and aesthetic agency. The theoretical framework brings together studies on Indigenous art, decolonial critique, and performance theory, engaging discussions on memory, identity, body, and language, while also questioning Western criteria of artistic legitimation. Methodologically, the study is qualitative, interpretive, and comparative, based on the analysis of artworks and their contexts of circulation and reception, focusing on the performance Azira’i and the musical production of Siba Puri. The results show that these productions challenge traditional conceptions of art by integrating memory, ancestry, and creation as inseparable dimensions. In the first case, cultural continuity emerges as a structuring element of scenic presence; in the second, the reconstruction of belonging from fragmented memories is emphasized. The article concludes that contemporary Indigenous arts operate as practices of historical and symbolic elaboration, producing new modes of existence and contributing to the reconfiguration of analytical categories within the artistic field.