Ype: The Itineraries of a Tapirapé-Apyãwa Mask (1960–2023). Convivial Pacts and Relational Strategies of a Tupi-Guarani People from Central Brazi
Ana Coutinho, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
The presentation will focus on developments from the research currently being carried out at the Maria Sibylla Merian Centre for Advanced Latin American Studies – Mecila, in São Paulo, Brazil. This postdoctoral project, conducted as a Junior Fellow at Mecila in 2025, builds on reflections developed during her PhD in Social Anthropology.
Her doctoral dissertation focused on ritual contexts in which various materialities — such as masks and Indigenous body ornaments — play a central role. The current research addresses a different historical moment in the life of the Apyãwa people: in the late 1960s, ritual specialists began the systematic sale of masks to different buyers. The research seeks to analyze the strategies mobilized by the Apyãwa-Tapirapé in this collective action, which expresses a convivial pact within a broader context of inequality. Among the central questions of the investigation are: What transformations were made to the artifacts to make them marketable? What kinds of negotiations with non-human beings guided the crafting of masks intended for sale?
Today, masks known as Ype can be found in various ethnographic museums in Europe and the United States, and the Apyãwa-Tapirapé have expressed interest in locating the pieces sold at the end of the 1960s. This demonstrates a desire on the part of Indigenous interlocutors to understand the journeys and destinations of the masks now housed in museums. The research is part of the Research Area “Medialities of Conviviality”, and aims to explore the circulation of artifacts and images between the Global South and Global North, with a focus on Indigenous agency throughout each stage of this circulation process.
Ana Coutinho is currently conducting postdoctoral research at MECILA–CEBRAP– USP on the Ype/Cara-Grande masks of the Tapirapé-Apyãwa held in ethnographic museums. She holds a PhD in Social Anthropology from the Graduate Program in Social Anthropology at the National Museum (PPGAS–UFRJ) and a Master’s degree in Ethnology and Social Anthropology from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS, France). She is a member of the Laboratory of Ritual Anthropology and Memory (LARMe) at PPGAS–National Museum. She has fieldwork experience in the Médio Araguaia region and takes part in the collaborative project for the creation and development of the Apyãwa-Tapirapé Museum, coordinated by the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF).
Date:
05 November 2025
16:00-17:30
Venue:
Seminar Room 3.03
Classen-Kappelmannstr. 24, 50931 Köln