Baniwa Art

Sustainable Businesses, LEAD Brazil

Case: Baniwa Art

André is President of the Indigenous Organization of Bacia of Içana (OIBI) and vice-Director of FOIRN – Federation of Indigenous Organisations of the Rio Negro. He was a finalist for the Ashoka-McKinsey Social Enterprise Prize 2004-2005 with the Baniwa Pepper Project. André completed the ‘Network Development Program’ and is an Ashoka Social Entrepreneur Fellow.

The municipality of São Gabriel da Coachoeira is located on the banks of the Negro River in the State of Amazonas and has a considerable indigenous population. The Baniwa people, one of the communities resident in São Gabriel da Coachoeira, are part of a complex culture of 23 different indigenous groups with a population of about 7,000 people in Brazil. The OIBI, founded in 1992, represents 17 Baniwa communities and aims at guaranteeing the quality of life for the indigenous Baniwa communities of the Rio Içana. The OIBI is a branch of FOIRN, a non governmental organisation founded in 1987, which seeks to organise and mobilise the 22 indigenous groups of the region and fight for their rights to land, health, education and culture. Working in partnership with the Baniwa Art project is the SocioEnvironmental Institute (ISA), a non-governmental organisation founded in 1994 that focuses integrated solutions to social and environmental matters.

The Baniwa people manufactured and exchanged ‘arumã’ (a type of vegetable fibre) baskets between themselves long before the colonisation process began. However, the depreciation of indigenous customs and products brought about by the Catholic mission created a lack of motivation to produce such traditional goods. The establishment of OIBI saw the sale of such products as a means of providing for the communities’ basic needs and so its production was once again encouraged. In 1996 the idea of creating Baniwa Art (linked to FOIRN and ISA) saw these groups working with the indigenous artisans to improve the quality of the baskets and to create a marketing strategy. Baniwa Art was first launched in São Paulo in 2000 during the ‘Indigenous People’s Week’ with the participation of 19 indigenous artisans.

The Baniwa Art project seeks to increase the value of the cultural heritage of the Baniwa people since the objects created from ‘arumã’ form a fundamental part of their millenary cultural tradition. In addition, a further strength of the project is the generation of income for the indigenous producers and their organisations. The revenue generated goes into covering costs, contributing towards other projects of the Baniwa groups, and building a community fund. The project also plans to increase the sustainable use of natural resources.

One possibility currently being explored for expansion and replications of the Baniwa Art project is the commercialisation of the pepper powder used by Baniwa women. This will not only bring financial benefits to the Baniwa people but it will also strengthen the role of women within the Baniwa society.