PHOTO: © Keyvisual der Ausstellung „Feliciano Lana. Die Geschichte der Weißen" © SHF / Feliciano Lana / Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Ethnologisches Museum / digitale Reproduktion: Thiago da Costa Oliveira & Claudio Aparecido Tavares
Feliciano Lana. Die Geschichte der Weißen
In the organizer's words:
The watercolors by Feliciano Lana , an Indigenous artist from Brazil who passed away in 2020, explore the history of contact between Indigenous peoples and white settlers along the Upper Rio Negro.
Through his works, Lana recounts a local version of global history and offers new, sometimes deeply personal perspectives on the advance of colonialism and capitalism.
The drawings depict, among other things, the arrival of white settlers, their expulsion due to inappropriate behavior during a ritual, and their return as soldiers, explorers, colonial administrators, and government officials. The exhibition centers on the artist’s works and perspective (including a video interview). Alongside these, the exhibition features several works by younger contemporary Indigenous artists from Brazil, as well as a video installation with Indigenous eyewitnesses who reference the stories told by Lana.
Feliciano Lana, whose Indigenous name is Sibé, was born in 1937 in São João Batista, a small community on the Tiquié River in northeastern Brazil. Lana’s father was a Desana, and his mother belonged to the Tukano language group. At the age of four, in 1941, he was sent to a Salesian boarding school to be educated according to white standards, far from his community. There, Lana learned to read and write Portuguese and received instruction in mathematics, physics, and geometric drawing.His time at the boarding school also marked the beginning of Lana’s relationships with the non-indigenous world, which would shape much of his future life. After graduating from school, Lana lived in Colombia for several years. Upon his return to his homeland, he worked as a plantation laborer, a mason’s assistant, a tractor driver, a telegraph operator, a brickmaker, and a miner. Feliciano Lana is regarded by the Western world as one of the first Indigenous artists from the Amazon region.His career began in the early 1970s, when he was invited by Father Casimiro Bécksta, a Lithuanian missionary, to document the region’s Indigenous culture. Lana was originally supposed to take photographs and make audio recordings, but he ultimately decided to capture his knowledge in paintings. Gradually, he became an expert at bringing the region’s traditions and mythical universe to life through his art.
In May 2020, Feliciano Lana Sibé died at his home in the municipality of São Francisco as a result of a COVID-19 infection.
A temporary exhibition by the Humboldt Forum Foundation at the Berlin Palacein collaboration with the Ethnological Museum of the State Museums of Berlin – Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.
- Ages 9 and up
- Languages: German/English
- Exhibition ticket for the Ethnological Collections and Asian Art required. Regular price: 14 EUR; starting July 13, 2026: regular price 9 EUR,
- Location: 3rd floor, Room 302, access via the Museum of Asian Art entrance
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Location
Weitere Termine von Feliciano Lana. Die Geschichte der Weißen
24.
Juni
10:30
Berlin
Humboldt Forum
7,00 to 14,00 €
25.
Juni
10:30
Berlin
Humboldt Forum
7,00 to 14,00 €
26.
Juni
10:30
Berlin
Humboldt Forum
7,00 to 14,00 €
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