Race, Representation and Agassiz’s Brazilian Fantasy

Examine the history and legacy of Louis Agassiz’s extensive archive of African and Indigenous Brazilians images, made in Manaus, Brazil in 1865 and housed at Harvard’s Peabody Museum, during "Race, Representation and Agassiz's Brazilian Fantasy" on Thursday, April 1. Four distinguished panelists will reflect on the historical moment when these photos were taken, discuss racist displays of Indigenous people in Brazil and elsewhere plus, by bringing to light respect for different epistemologies, explore ways to contend with them today. Advanced registration is required and will close 30 minutes before the start time. This event is co-sponsored by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology and Harvard Museums of Science & Culture with the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University.

Panelists are Christoph Irmscher, Director of the Wells Scholars Program, Provost Professor in the Department of English at Indiana University and contributor to the Peabody Museum Press book on Agassiz images, "To Make Their Own Way in the World"; Brazilian performance artist and photographer Anita Ekman; literary critic Luciana Namorato, Associate Professor plus Director of Portuguese in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Indiana University; alongside Brazil’s first Indigenous art curator Sandra Benites (Guaraní Ñandeva), Adjunct Curator of Brazilian Art at the Museum of Art of São Paulo. The discussion will be moderated by Alejandro De La Fuente, Robert Woods Bliss Professor of Latin American History and Economics plus Professor of African and African American Studies and of History at Harvard University.

Photo of an unnamed Brazilian woman by Walter Hunnewell, 1865. Commissioned by Prof. Louis Agassiz. Courtesy of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, PM 2004.24.7640.