From the Headwaters to the Mouth: Additional Amazonian Collections in the Maxwell Museum

The Maxwell Museum holds a small collection of objects and reproductions from the Amazon. From Headwaters to Mouth features objects spanning 2000 years from communities on opposite ends of the River: the island of Marajó at the mouth of the Amazon, and along the Ucayali River in Peru, a major tributary that feeds into the Amazon at its head. Shipibo artists are renowned for their intricately decorated pottery and textiles, ornamented with kené, designs that exist beyond the realm of humans and emerge from the skin of the primordial anaconda. Contemporary and historic photographs of Shipibo artists, landscapes and communities enrich the exhibition, which also feature a distinct Marajoaran object directly connected to the lost National Museum of Brazil.