Gisa Müller “Krahô” Photo Exhibit Opens at Copacabana Fort

By Jay Forte, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Tomorrow on Wednesday, April 13th the photo exhibit “Krahô – Heranças Culturais Brasileiras” (“Krahô – Brazilian Cultural Heritages”) opens at the Museu Histórico do Exército e Forte de Copacabana, or Historical Army Museum at Copacabana Fort. The show features black and white photos by Gisa Müller, which depict the tradition, daily life and culture of the indigenous ethnic Krahô in their territory in the state of Tocantins, in central Brazil.

The exhibition, as described by the photographer, seeks to ‘extol the beauty and traditions of a people’, whose numbers are now only approximately three thousand. The images show the Krahô in their villages, which like many other indigenous groups in Brazil and around the globe, is losing its cultural identity under the pressure of the modern world.

“The exhibition is a documentation, a photographic record of Krahô ethnicity. I spent a month with them and during that time I was able to experience the daily life, the children and some rituals that are part of a larger culture.” Gisa Müller said in an interview last year.

“This exhibition is to show the beauty of their culture today. It is a call to the Indian beauty, […] It’s a look of respect. When you travel a lot to different locations, [you] no longer have to raise a flag of what is right or wrong. Right and wrong do not exist, there is the other and you.”

The exhibition is composed of 72 photos in different formats, divided into areas of; daily life, traditions, and pictures. Müller portrays the traditions of Krahô people in some of their rituals, their ways of life and bringing a record of their cultural to the public.

The press for the exhibition explains the idea is to bring to the public the sense of pride and appreciation of heritage and social memory, extolling the indigenous ethnic Krahô for its cultural richness and ethnic identity during the commemorative date of the National Indian Day, April 19th.

What: Krahô – Heranças Culturais Brasileiras photo exhibit (“Krahô – Brazilian Cultural Heritages”)
When: April 13th – 28th, Tuesday – Sunday, 10AM – 6PM.
Where: Copacabana Forte, Praça Coronel Eugênio Franco, 1 – Posto 6 – Copacabana, RJ
Entrance: R$6, students and seniors for R$3