Terra Pajé and the contribution of Contemporary Indigenous Art to reflections on aesthetic education

Abstract

This text discusses the creation of images within the Contemporary Indigenous Art (AIC) movement, which proposes a aesthetic for its appreciation, distinct from cartesian’s aesthetics. It describes the creative processes behind the installation “Terra Pajé,” developed as part of the Visual Arts Program at the Federal University of Roraima, in dialogue with the body of work and ideas of the Indigenous artist Jaider Esbell. In addition to this primary artistic reference, the text engages in dialogue with theorists whose work focuses on the relationship between art and knowledge. Employing a recursive writing method centered on experiential accounts and bibliographic review, the study draws on the indigenous perspectivism described by Viveiros de Castro and on researchers of signic action, such as Vygotsky, Benjamin, and Vieira. It argues that the image in AIC is not merely representation, but an autonomous visual thought that integrates existences of multiple natures aligned with a single culture. This hybrid and multisensory visual ensemble, resulting from the ability to communicate with beings from visible and invisible dimensions, challenges Western rationality by proposing an aesthetic of openness to novelty, to include uncertainties in place of verification and to invite creative elaboration, nurturing the fertile ground of symbolism and human formation.