Through his work as an organiser, educator, and curator, self-taught Makuxi artist Jaider Esbell was a tireless advocate for Indigenous rights and ecological urgency. Born in the traditional territory known today as Terra Indígena Raposa Serra do Sol, Esbell spent his childhood learning the stories of Makunaimî, the great ancestor of his people, from his grandfather. Initially working as a high voltage electrician for a State-owned company, he received a degree in geography before turning fully to art in 2016. Esbell was a frequent writer and campaigner on behalf of his people, the Makuxi, and advocated what he described, combining art with activism, as “artivism:” the idea that art can be a powerful force in the struggles for Indigenous cultural recognition and land rights. Named for Makunaimî, the paintings in Esbell’s Transmakunaimî: o buraco é mais embaixo series are abstract renderings of scenes from the horizon of existence. Some of these paintings depict Makunaimî’s relation with the living forces of the Caribbean Amazon. Others, like A vaca and A luta do boi com Makuinaimî (both 2017), express the colonial invasion of the territory. Even when their imagery verges on total abstraction, Esbell’s paintings express the continuity and power of nature as a response to the exploitations of hegemonic society.
Ian Wallace
