Indigenous Languages and Cultures Week 2025

Speaker Bios

Dr. Claudia Mattos Avolese teaches in the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University. Her principal areas of interest are visual culture in Brazil, indigenous art, material culture, global art history and theory. Her recent research focuses on indigenous arts in Brazil, the imaginary of the forest and ecology.

Julieta Brocca is a visual arts educator and ceramicist based in Merlo, Buenos Aires, Argentina. With over a decade of research dedicated to the ceramics and cosmovision of Indigenous peoples across the Americas, her work explores the ancestral significance of clay as a medium of cultural memory and spiritual connection. Currently, Brocca directs Cerámica Luli, a family-based ceramic workshop and research initiative dedicated to the creation of pieces informed by Indigenous traditions. Through workshops and seminars, the project aims to engage the community in preserving ceramic craftsmanship as a vital link to identity, ancestral memory, and the spiritual essence of the land.

Auritha Tabajara is an author of cordel literature, a holistic therapist, and indigenous storyteller. Her first book, Indigenous Teaching of Prose and Poetry, was adopted by the Basic Education Department of the State of Ceará. She is the first indigenous woman to publish books of cordel literature in Brazil.

Mirela Vega is a self-taught Bolivian muralist and illustrator, currently based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her artistic journey began in community-driven mural projects, collaborating on large-scale artworks for dining halls, community centers, and senior centers. In 2015, she joined Maca Museo a Cielo Abierto (MACA), a traveling muralism school and collective, where she refined her technical skills and deepened her knowledge of communication, urbanism, and cultural project management.

Edgar Kanaykõ Xakriabá:  belongs to the Xakriabá people, in Minas Gerais, Brazil. He has a master in anthropology, from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, and his work revolves around ethnography – registering the cultural aspects and life of a people.