Read the article about the book launch produced by the PUC-Campinas team.
On November 30th, at 18pm, the Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas (PUC Campinas) and Unicamp will launch the book "Art and Archeology of Indigenous America: the Cerqueira Leite pre-Columbian collection". The work brings together images, descriptions and analyzes of artifacts that make up the pre-Columbian art collection of Rogério Cerqueira Leite, professor emeritus at Unicamp. The event will take place in the auditorium of Campus I of PUC Campinas.
The book presents 794 artifacts, 599 whole pieces and 195 fragments of figurines, sculptures, vases and ceramics from the Americas. These are pieces that cover civilizations such as the Olmecs, Aztecs and Mayans, originating from Mexico and Central America; the Inca Empire, in Peru; and the Chilean Mapuche. Of the people originating from Brazilian territory, the Marajoara artifacts and other cultures from the Lower Amazon, such as the Pocó and Mazagão, as well as people from other regions, such as the Tupiguarani, stand out.
Organizers of the work, Alexandre Guida Navarro and Denise Cavalcante Gomes signed introductory articles with reflections on the symbolism of gestures contained in the collection's pieces and new archaeological perspectives, which abandon the idea of human supremacy over other beings. Pedro Paulo Funari, professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences (IFCH), also participates in the edition with a text on cultural diversity in Latin America. The preface is written by Marcelo Knobel, former dean of Unicamp.
Rogério Cerqueira Leite is one of the great names in science who participated in the construction of Unicamp. PhD in Solid Physics from the University of Paris – Sorbonne, he was a professor at the “Gleb Wataghin” Institute of Physics, of which he was director for two periods. Due to his great affinity with music, he also worked on establishing the university's Institute of Arts. Before his career at Unicamp, he taught at the Sorbonne itself and at the Aeronautical Technological Institute (ITA), in addition to being a researcher at Bell Laboratories, in the United States. Currently, Cerqueira Leite is honorary president of the Board of Directors of the National Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM).
In an interview with Jornal da Unicamp, he says that his appreciation for the arts was a constant in his career. Today, his collection has more than four thousand artistic items from China, Japan, India, Africa, Syria, Oceania, among others, in addition to the pre-Columbian collection present in the book. "Researchers who have a broad humanistic background can do science with more progressive ideas, making it more humanistic", he reflects.
The book “Arte e Arqueologia da América Indígena” is the first work released in partnership by publishers Splendit PUC Campinas and Unicamp. In a letter published by the rectors of the institutions, Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles (Unicamp) and Germano Rigacci Junior (PUC Campinas) celebrate Cerqueira Leite's contribution to the scientific and technological development of the Campinas region, something that brought benefits to both institutions.
They also celebrate the results of the work, which opens doors for new publications that fulfill the universities' mission of disseminating science and culture. "This catalog makes an important contribution, through its texts and images, to deepening the public's historical understanding of the period prior to the arrival of Portuguese and Spanish colonizers on the American continent."
Service
Launch of the book "Art and Archeology of Indigenous America: the pre-Columbian Cerqueira Leite collection"
30/11/2022, at 18pm
Auditorium Campus I PUC Campinas – Av. Prof. Ana Maria Silvestre Adade, s/n, Parque das Universidades, Campinas.
Read more:
MAV opens two exhibitions on Afro-Brazilian and African art
IFCH creates 1st non-European art history program in the country
