Naine Terena in conversation with Francesca Laura Cavallo

Naine Terena (Cuiabá–MT, 1980) belongs to the Terena indigenous people of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, and is a professor at the Faculdade Católica de Mato Grosso. As a curator, activist and researcher, she focuses primarily on the social aspects of art, investigating how historical narratives are constructed, and exploring the biased mechanism of power distribution. She has curated, among other works, the exhibition Véxoa: Nós sabemos (Véxoa: We Know, October 2020/April 2021), at Pinacoteca of São Paulo, with works by 23 indigenous artists and collectives. She has a Master's in art from the University of Brasília, a Doctorate in Education from PUC-São Paulo and a postdoc at the Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT). She edited the book Povos indígenas no Brasil ( Brazil Publishing, 2018) and was a finalist of the Jane Lombard Prize for Art and Social Justice, awarded by the Vera List Center for Art and Politics in New York. As the head of the organisation Oráculo, established in 2012, Terena is also a communication advisor and programmer of socio-cultural-educational projects spanning from workshops on the Theatre of the Oppressed to talks on technology, Indigenous communities' land struggles and oppression of the LGBTQ community in Brazil. In recent years she has devoted herself to recording and learning several Terena chants. 
 

Dr Francesca Laura Cavallo is a curator, art critic and Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the University of Kent. Her work combines research and practice to explore how the arts can be mobilised to transform public perceptions and attitudes towards risk, ecology, health and sustainability. Brazil Footprint 0.0 is part of the postdoctoral research Acting Before the Emergency: Artists and Climate Justice in Brazil,  in collaboration with the Rio De Janeiro Rural University  (Dr Arthur Valle) and funded by the Global Challenges Research Framework. https://www.francescalauracavallo.com/