The State Secretary for Culture, Mato Grosso (Affiliate Member of IFACCA) promotes culture through support for cultural projects and processes, grants to cultural agents and awards. It also protects and promotes diversity and cultural expression, whether individual or collective. Mato Grosso is home to over 40 different Indigenous groups, most of which are in protected areas such as the famous Xingu Park. Through its policies, the State Secretary for Culture is focused on promoting and strengthening the cultural heritage of its Indigenous peoples. We asked Secretary Leandro Carvalho to provide us with insight into the institution’s initiatives for Indigenous peoples; how it cooperates with Federal and other State peers; and its longer term priorities. 

 
Initiatives for Indigenous Peoples

Olhares do Araguaia is a one of our initiatives. It develops independent audiovisual production activities aimed at training, production and distribution in the cultural sector. The goal of the project is to rescue the history of the Middle Araguaia region, and to portray the diverse perspectives that make up the cultural identity of the region, through fictional films and documentaries. Such perspectives include: the occupation of the east of Mato Grosso; indigenous influence in the past and current times; the importance of the environment as a source of wealth, customs and sustainability; multiculturalism and the ethnic diversity generated by the migration cycles. 

Another initiative is the Circuito Kamukuwaká. Kamukuwaká and Yakuwixeku are important heroes of the Xingu historical narratives, who went up to the skies to bring the people of the Alto Xingu ancestral knowledge linked to the initiation ritual of the young leaders. With the reduction and exclusion of ancestral spaces of cultural reproduction and the introduction of new technologies in the villages, these traditional narratives, transmitted orally through generations, tend to be restricted to the memory of the elders. 

This project aims to revitalize the transmission mechanisms of this knowledge, recording it in writing and introducing it into the Wauja school program. The proposal is collaborative, led by an interethnic team of photographers and researchers in Anthropology, Ethnoarchaeology and Pedagogy, together with the active participation of the Wauja people, in particular, their students and elders. Among the project activities are a bilingual book, illustrated by drawings and photographs of young Wauja, workshops, lectures, debates and public events.

Jejakanamapi Katetirikiná - we rejoice with Katêriti – is another project. It aims to reactivate the practices of musical execution of flutes Katêtiri, a habit that is being lost among the new generations. The idea is to encourage young people to take up the practice of using the traditional instrument from the teachings of the elders who have mastered this ability.

Cooperation with Federal and other State peers

Secretary Leandro Carvalho presided over the Fórum Nacional de Secretários e Dirigentes Estaduais de Cultura,  from March 2016 to March 2017. The Forum was founded in 1983 with an expert advisory role on national and regional policies of the cultural sector. The organisation enables the states and Federal District to participate in creating guidelines for a common cultural policy, respecting the characteristics and cultural diversity of each state and region of the country. The Secretary of State for Culture, Leandro Carvalho, is also a substitute for the president of the Forum National Commission for Cultural Incentives (CNIC).

Medium to long term priorities

In the medium to long term, our priority is to manage and consolidate public policies that have already been implemented, for example the building reform of the Biblioteca Pública Estadual Estevão de Mendonça, and the Grande Hotel da Criatividade, both in Cuiabá.

Visit the State Secretary for Culture, Mato Grosso website for more information