The Amazonian understanding of the relation between culture and nature is further illustrated in the second part of the exhibition, titled "Indigenous Amazonians."
Peoples in the Amazon believe that, in a mythical past, all living beings including humans, objects, plants and animals had an animated life and lived in a world in which everything was interrelated, said Luis Grupioni, an anthropologist and one of the two curators of the exhibition.
In those times, they believe, human were created by all other beings and objects in the world while other beings and objects were created by humans.
There was only one that was "not created."
"In the beginning the world didn't exist. Darkness covered everything. While there was nothing, a woman appeared by herself. This all happened in the darkness..." according to the mythology of the Desana people, one of the more than 170 indigenous peoples in the Amazon.
"Six mysterious things enabled her to create herself: a stool made of white quartz, a cigar holder, a bowl of ipadu (Amazonian cocoa), the support for this bowl of ipadu, a bowl of manioc flour, and the support for this bowl."
"It was with these mysterious objects that she transformed herself, all by herself. For this reason, she is called the 'Not Created'," according to the mythological story.
In Amazonian belief life becomes possible as humans relate with other beings that inhabit the cosmos, said anthropologist Grupioni.
The rainforest residents, showing deep respect, transformed and used animals and plants into food, adornments, instruments and objects used in everyday life and in ritual events.
Most of the daily-use utensils displayed in the show have been collected from the rainforest over the past two years, said Grupioni.
Indigenous peoples are still using them, although visitors see them as pure novelties.
The artefacts include graters in various shapes, used by various groups to process manioc, bowls made of the hard bark of fruit trees, bowl-shaped sieves woven to serve foods and spindles with cotton threads rolled on them.
They also include beautiful pendants for bracelets and necklaces, men's ties and belts, women's skirts and bags, and pottery jugs, pots, vases, bowls and basins.
In the everyday life of the indigenous people, men and women complement one another in the performance of their defined roles, said Grupioni.
A breathtaking universe of bows and arrows and a variety of baskets are displayed to show the male and female roles.
The men's deadly arrows, used for shooting or throwing, have been divided into more than 20 kinds according to function or shape, such as incendiary, arched, bifurcated, double-serrated, spear-like, harpoon-like or poly-pointed.
The most fabulous part of the exhibition is the feather ornaments.
The brightly colored ornaments, often used in rituals, the most beautiful of which belonged to chiefs and shamans, are believed to have the power of helping restore the lost communication between humans and the heroes who created them, and with the beings that once were human, said Grupioni.
(China Daily June 1, 2004)
