Xingu / Aritana Institute

The Aritana Institute is an association that aims to promote and protect the rights as well as the lands, territories and resources of the indigenous peoples of the Xingu.

It is located in the Xingu Indigenous Territory (TIX), but specifically in Alto Xingu, northern Mato Grosso, Brazil. The nearest towns are Canarana and Gaúcha do Norte.

The Institute is based on promoting the knowledge, mutual understanding and cooperation of peoples, the traditional development of lands, territories and natural resources, as well as their ecological restoration. It is also part of a movement for the preservation, control, protection and development of tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

It also aims to guarantee differentiated and specific education, facilitate access to social and health services in conjunction with ancestral medical practices, and promote and facilitate cultural agreements and exchanges between peoples.

Casa das Mulheres

The associations responsible for defending and protecting the indigenous peoples of the Upper Xingu have called for the establishment of a constructive art that merges architectural modernity with vernacular construction methods. These projects aim to uphold the new aspirations of indigenous peoples through sustainable building practices and to enrich the architectural repertoire of contemporary Brazilian society. The building, designed as a hybrid of the traditional Yawalapiti OCA and a contemporary open agora, incorporates traditional indigenous techniques (such as frame construction) and modern innovations (like the design of wooden tiles and raw earth walls). This results in a public structure that is durable, built on-site with available resources, and utilises the lowest possible level of technology. The participative construction of this new institution will foster multiple discussions, imaginations, thoughts, and worlds coexisting, all guided by the protection, affirmation, and perpetuation of indigenous existence and their ways of life in the territory, as well as the assurance and guarantee of their rights.