Conversation

Antropofagia, the “cannibalistic” ingestion of the enemy, is most often associated with a cultural politics proper to Brazilian modernism of the mid-20th century that emphasized acculturation and hybridity as hallmarks of the tropics. In a discussion inspired by his recent book The Forest and the School, the artist and writer Pedro Neves Marques, in dialogue with architect Paulo Tavares, revisits the term but expands on the conventional definition of antropofagia from a cosmopolitical perspective, to highlight its relevance to contemporary anthropology and indigenous struggles of the region.

This conversation looks at antropofagia as both a concept and a contemporary mode of doing that responds to current urgencies prompted by global development often characterized by monoculture mega-projects and a deterministic embrace of technology. From this perspective, is it still possible to eat the “enemy”? And could we consider anthropophagy a form of political thinking and social action contributing to a more ecologically balanced future, where the social extends beyond human agency and nature is not a resource exclusively?

The discussion is moderated by curator Sarah Demeuse.

Participants
Sarah Demeuse: Curator, Rivet Rivet
Pedro Neves Marques: Artist and Writer
Paulo Tavares: Architect and Visiting Scholar, Princeton University

This discussion is organized as part of the Vera List Center’s 2015-2017 curatorial programs on Post Democracy.