Territories of Knowledge

The Amazon is a key territory in the history of colonial processes in the formation of a modern world system based on the exploitation of naturecultures, subjugating peoples and species that for centuries have co-cultivated codependent relationships, especially in the global south. Brazil is the country with the largest area of the Amazon, equivalent to around 60% of the largest tropical forest on the planet. The importance of respecting the territories and peoples in the region, as well as the need of unveiling transnational power structures that reproduce colonialities, is key to the debate on global warming and climate change.

For all these reasons, the research follows the preparations for COP30 and international debates about practices for possible futures of the planet with special attention to contemporary challenges, including conflicts resulting from the implementation of more contemporary developmentalist megaprojects, illegal logging, mining, land grabbing, among other transnational processes.

Based on their own methods of artistic research and investigative journalism, the researchers aim to contribute to spaces for knowledge exchange, starting from the notions of territory, land, water and conviviality – four words that carry different meanings in different contexts. Therefore, the idea is to give visibility to ongoing processes in the local context and create new spaces beyond borders between Brazil and Germany, revealing conflicts but also opening up possibilities for collaboration based on the understanding and respect for different positionalities. The research will be conducted in dialogue with Indigenous, quilombolas, riverside and other Amazonian communities, especially networks and collectives of artists, journalists, researchers and environmentalists in the region, as well as groups working transnationally unveiling past and ongoing colonialities.