DAIARA TUKANO – TUKANO PEOPLE
Tukano People (Amazonia) – Yé’pá Mahsã – Master in Human Rights – Visual Artist – Coordinator of Radio Yandê.
Daiara Tukano, from the Tukano do Alto Rio Negro people, is an activist and visual artist, holder of a Master’ s degree in human rights from the University of Brasilia, researcher in indigenous peoples’ right to memory and truth.
Independent communicator and coordinator of Radio Yandê, Brazil’s first indigenous web radio station (www.radioyande.com). She is one of the first women of her people to have been initiated into the traditional spirituality of the Tukano people, studying sacred medicines with her father during ceremonies.
Daiara considers activism as an exercise of consciousness for integration with nature, so that we can work together to cultivate a more just society that respects diversity and honours the dignity of all living beings. There are many ways to connect to this consciousness, everything is spirituality: art, political and social relationships, as well as our search for a deeper understanding of the universe.
LUCIA FERNANDA JÓFEJ – KAINGANG PEOPLE
Lucia Fernanda Jófej is an indigenous woman of the Kaingáng People, a lawyer and activist in the indigenous movement since 2000. She specializes in indigenous rights and intellectual property. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Law from the University of Brasilia, has worked at FUNAI and is legal advisor to indigenous organizations in the five regions of Brazil and consultant for international cooperation organizations .
As a specialist in the protection of cultural, tangible and intangible heritage, she represents the indigenous peoples of Brazil in various United Nations bodies and teaches indigenous rights at high schools and universities. She works with the Pontos de Cultura Kanhgág Jãre and Som dos Maracás in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.
In 2015, Fernanda Kaingáng was elected Deputy National Councillor to the National Council for Cultural Policies by the Indigenous Peoples Sectoral College of the Ministry of Culture.
JAIDER ESBELL – MAKUXI PEOPLE
Indigenous Makuxi artist, a cross-border people living around Mount Roraima, between Brazil (RR), Venezuela and Guyana. Esbell is the grandson of the cultural entity Makunaima, which is at the centre of the creation of the world for his people.
In 2009, he received the Funarte scholarship for literary creation with Makunaima’s neo-story book Terreiro-Myths, Legends and Real Life Stories. In 2013/2014, he taught Amazonian culture in the United States. In 2016, he won the PIPA Online Contemporary Art Award.
The artist has published several articles in art journals such as Select, and scientific articles such as Iluminuras by the UFRGS. One of its most important exhibitions is Mira-Visual Arts of Indigenous People, which brought together indigenous artists from Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador (UFMG/2013). Since 2016, the artist has lived exclusively on art and has his own creative space in Boa Vista-RR where he resides and develops various intercultural activities.
http://www.jaideresbell.com.br/site/2016/07/01/it-was-amazon/