NAMBIQUARAS IN PARIS: ARCHIVAL IMAGES, DISPLACEMENTS AND APPARITIONS/ NAMBIQUARAS EM PARIS: IMAGENS DE ARQUIVO, DESLOCAMENTOS E APARICOES/ NAMBIQUARAS EN PARIS: IMAGENES DE ARCHIVO, DESPLAZAMIENTOS Y APARICIONES

Focusing on the case study of a collection of photographs made by the Rondon Commission found in the archives of the Cartography Section of the National Library of France, this essay explores the relations between photographic images, archives, historical contexts, and politics of remembrance. In 1925, an anonymous donor gave 120 photographs of the expeditions of the Rondon Commission to the Societe de Geographie in Paris. Headed by the military officer Candido Rondon (1865- 1958), the Rondon Commission produced an impressive photographic record of numerous Indigenous tribes inhabiting those regions. While following the material and symbolic trajectories of these photographs, I am attempting to offer a selective and contextualized reading of their meanings by focusing on the photographic pacts undertaken, the relevance of aesthetic choices, and the strategies of political recognition.