Rituals of Beauty

What does it mean to be beautiful at the celebrations of an Amazonian Indigenous community? The temporary photo exhibition explores this question through a unique research archive spanning several decades.

The photography exhibition Rituals of Beauty – Feather and Painting: Body Decoration in the Amazon presents a selection from the archive created over nearly half a century of Amazonian fieldwork by the internationally renowned Belgian cultural anthropologist Gustaaf Verswijver. The collection comprises more than 47,000 photographs, approximately 90 hours of film footage, audio recordings, field notes, and nearly 400 objects. With its acquisition by the museum, not only has the material been professionally preserved and made accessible for exhibition, but in the long term it will also be available to researchers and members of the source communities. The present exhibition is the first thematic presentation of this extensive archive.

At the centre of the exhibition are photographs taken between 1974 and 2019 among the Mebengokre (Kayapó) community living in the Brazilian rainforest. A key concept of the exhibition is the Mebengokre term mereremetx, which literally means “those who show off beautifully”. The term refers to the ceremonial transformation of the body, ritual dress and adornment, and communal ceremonies and their participants, while also expressing the unity and cultural values of the community.

The photographs show how body paintings are created, what meanings are conveyed through colours and patterns, how the body is shaped—for example through ear and lip stretching— and decorated with feathers, and how these practices are connected to myths, age groups and ritual roles. The exhibition not only presents the festive world and concept of beauty of an Amazonian Indigenous community, but also examines how all this is perceived and visually captured by an anthropologist conducting research among them.

Chief curator: Szeljak György

Curators: Csorba Judit Dorottya, Danó Orsolya

Photo consultant: Gellér Judit

Exhibition design: DE_VISION

Graphic design: DE_FORM

Image post-production and print preparation: DE_FORM

Project manager: Nagel Edith 

Production management: Kamondi Gabriella 

Copy editing: Szentirmai Dóra

English text: Király Attila

Videos: Gustaaf Verswijver, Csorba Judit Dorottya, Szeljak György, Régi Tamás

Video editing: Nikl Márton

Sound: Boudny Ferenc

Conservation and artefact installation: Balogh Imre, Bagi Orsolya, Cs. Tóth Levente, Lizicai Orsolya, Perger Andrea, Sipos Tamás

Artefact documentation: Odler Zsolt, Pribusz Erika, Szendrei Dóra Júlia

Artefact management: Bagi Hajnalka

Museum education: Filó Veronika

Communication: Berényi Marianna, Czeczon Csenge, Incze László, Lónárt Adrienn, Molnár Luca

Szalontai Judit, Horváth Ádám

Programme organisation: Banka Solange, Murányi Veronika

Exhibition construction: BK Painters, Cseke Ferenc, Kiss István, Lénárt Zsolt, Szakmáry Béla

Printing and decoration: Expo Dekor Kft.

Lighting and projection: Lipécz Tamás

Additional contributors to the exhibition: Árvainé Jakab Anna, Bujka Rudolfné 

Külön köszönet / Special thanks: a mebengokre közösség tagjainak

Martine De Roeck, Gustaaf Verswijver, Kyra Verswijver, Filip Verswijver, Szalai Szilvia