Maria Fernanda Paes de Barros
My motivation comes from my soul and flows openly, on my life and in my work. I love what I do and I do it with intensity, I live every moment and I transmit all this emotion. In each project I immerse myself deeply in the region, in their craft and in the lives of the people who make them, it is a dive governed by research and by my soul, guided by the heart, done with respect and with the rhythm dictated by time. I get transformed and provoke transformations, and these attitudes reflect in the surroundings and beyond. I believe that design and art are one of the ways to value and eternalise the ancestral knowledge of Brazilian traditional crafts and the importance of nature around us, and so I use all tools that I have to create a quilt of infinite possibilities, full of feelings. Through Yankatu I expose not only my work, I bring with me the dreams and works of the artisans and instigate new dreams. The tangible part of this work are the pieces that intertwine my touch with the lives that share their moments with me. The other part, immeasurable, is in continuous development, in a mixture of art and freedom, with no date to finish. It is a continuous development, in a relationship created around respect and trust. My desire, to be able to do this as long as I live.
Undergraduate in business administration in 1991 discovered her talent for interior design while until in college. Attend interior design classes at Escola Panamericana de Arte and FAAP in 1991 and 1992, in Sao Paulo. After working in this area for more than 20 years reenrool with Escola Panamericana de Arte in 2014 for furniture design classes.
Website: https://mariafernandapaesdebarros.com.br/
Works
Sit, read, write exhibition on Adolpho Bloch Square. Farah Service. Curated by Marc Pottier - São Paulo - Brazil - Sep 2020 to Jan 2021
Form. Function. Fascination: The Chair - Design Pier + NY Design Week + Merci Magazine - May 2020
Social Entrepreneurship - Local Identity and Knowledge - WIPO - Geneva - Switzerland - Feb 2020
Carimbó Serie launch - Yankatu Gallery - São Paulo - Brazil - Nov to Dec 2019
Alma-Raíz Collection launch - Salvador Design Week - Bahia - Brazil - Oct 2017
Two Stories - A Casa Museum - São Paulo - Brazil - Oct 2019
MADE - Arte Design Market - São Paulo - Brazil - Aug 2019
Manual Gallery by Casa&Jardim magazine - Expo Revestir - São Paulo - Brazil - Mar 2019
Artisans, gold that emerges by hands - Yankatu Gallery - São Paulo - Brazil - Feb 2019
6th Brazilian Object Award - A Casa Museum - Sao Paulo - Brazil - Dec 2018 to Feb 2019
Design Sampa - São Paulo - Brazil Nov 2018
Unfoldings of Creative Week of Tiradentes - Minas Gerais - Brazil - Oct 2018
Artisans, gold that emerges by hands - Semana Criativa de Tiradentes - Minas Gerais - Brazil - Oct 2018
MADE - Art and Design Market - São Paulo - Brazil - Jun to Jul 2018
Unknown Territories - Usagi Gallery - New York - USA - May 2018
Unfoldings of Creative Week of Tiradentes - SP Arte - São Paulo - Brazil - Apr 2018
Design + Artu do Brasil - Paris - France - Dec 2017
Creative Week of Tiradentes - Minas Gerais - Brazil Oct 2017
MADE - Art and Design Market - São Paulo - Brazil - Aug 2017
Shaping Change - A Casa Museum - Sao Paulo - Brazil - Aug 2017
100% Brasil 8th Edition - Università Degli Studi di Milano - Milan - Apr 2017
5th Brazilian Object Award - A Casa Museum - Sao Paulo - Brazil - Dec 2016 to Jan 2017
MADE - Art and Design Market - São Paulo - Brazil - Aug 2016
Fio da Meada Exposition - A Casa Museum - Sao Paulo - Brazil - Nov 2014 to Feb 2015
Kulikyrda Mehinako
Kulikyrda Mehinaku is a technician in agroecology and an Indigenous Health Agent (AIS). He started making wooden zoomorphic benches in his teens, at the age of 13, motivated by his people custom to produce them for their own use. The possibility of commercialization was also an incentive, since, at the time, bench sales were the main source of income for Mehinaku people, making it possible to travel to the city to take courses and purchase industrial objects that are now part of indigenous life. Its name Kulikyrda means face of curica, a parrot's species from the Amazon region.
The Mehinaku People
The Mehinaku people reside in Xingu Indigenous Territory, in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil.
Their main language is Aruak and they are currently divided into 4 villages, Uyaipiyuku, Utawana, Kaupüna and Aturuwa.
They live in "ocas" and have their own customs and cultures.
They consume traditional foods such as beiju, fish and some game meat, such as monkey, nowadays they also eat "non-indigenous" foods.
The Mehinaku people work all year round making their cassava fields and handicrafts, that are wooden zoomorphic benches, masks, oars, bow and arrows, baskets of cassava, headdresses and earrings. Women make mats, hammocks and baskets of food and fruit using buriti straw, a traditional palm found nearby.
The Mehinaku people are also known for their rituals when they adorn themselves, paint bodies, dance and sing. Some of them are Takuara and Tawarawana, the best known being Kuarup, when they pay homage to the dead.