Join artist Tiago Almeida for a conversation with Asher Aurelio Edelman, archival technician at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, exploring the preservation of cultural knowledge across generations and the complex histories of syncretic cultures. Edelman, who is from Santa Clara Pueblo and has Brazilian lineage, brings a unique perspective to the ways memory, identity, and cultural traditions are documented, protected, and sustained.

Together, Almeida and Edelman will discuss how knowledge is carried through archives, oral histories, ritual, material culture, and lived practice. Their conversation will explore the intersections of Indigenous and Afro-Brazilian traditions, examining how communities preserve cultural knowledge while continually adapting to changing social and historical conditions.

Grounded in the themes of Almeida’s exhibition, Memories of the Past That Hug Me in a Nest, and moderated by Curator Chiara Giovando, the discussion considers preservation not as the freezing of culture in time, but as an ongoing practice of care and relationship. Bringing together the perspectives of an artist and an archival practitioner, both of whom are active members of their respective spiritual communities, the conversation offers insight into the many ways cultural memory is created, protected, and shared.

Audience questions will follow the discussion.