Elaborating collections and concepts: the trajectory of the Asurini do Xingu objects set by Regina Müller in the history of Brazilian anthropology

Abstract

The present project proposes an ethnography of the process of constitution of the Asurini of Xingu collection formed by the anthropologist Regina Müller (1950 -) and housed, since December 2021, by the Edgard Leuenroth Archive (AEL) of the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) and Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia of the Universidade de São Paulo (MAE/USP). It aims to explore the history of the collection since its formation, carried out during Müller's field research among the Asurini of Xingu, in the 1980s, until its reception by the AEL and MAE. Two objectives unfold from there: (1) to think about the place of ethnographic collections in the history of Brazilian anthropology, from the period in which Müller formed the collection; (2) to reflect on the curatorial practices of Asurini objects carried out by AEL and MAE. The research on the collection will be undertaken by consulting the Müller archives and the Asurini of Xingu collection, both housed at AEL, as well as through interviews with those involved in the formation of the collection, in addition to bibliographic research. Among the expected results are the help in organizing the archive collection of Regina Müller in addition to the contribution to studies related to the history of Brazilian anthropology and anthropology of material culture through the completion of the doctoral thesis and papers.