Naked-Monument (Naked-Moment)

typology of a decolonial monument to the Kaiowá and Guarani Amerindians for Lisbon

Abstract

These writings are developed in order to diagnose the typology of a monument to the Kaiowá and Guarani Amerindians, from the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, to be elaborated for the capital of Portugal, Lisbon. As a way to resolve my problematic situation in this in-between –a white contemporary artist from Sao Paulo, neither indigenous nor Portuguese–, the decolonial instance is initially clarified in order to support the artistic piece and the possibility of framing myself in an epistemology of the South. Thereafter, a reflection around three “subject-objects” from Guarani material cultures –tumular kurusu, chiru’s stick or cross, and Guarani-Kaiowá (yvyra’i marangatu) and Guarani-Nhandéva (tata rendy’y) kind of “altars” – leads to the notion of the act of producing “living” bodies, in the present. Then, the definitions of anti-monument and counter-monument are discussed and they lead to the ‘naked-monument’ typology –which can also be designated as ‘naked-moment’–, befitting with the emphasized trait from the Amerindians cosmovisions. Finally, the conclusions recognize critical potentials of the naked-monument syntax, in relation to the classical monument and to the colonial and imperial monuments. On the other hand, the text identifies a Western thought trend in tune with the idea of producing “living” bodies, which holds the idea of presence culture and is able to deconstruct the coloniality of power.