OPEN LECTURES
Community-Based Research in Art History
about
OPEN LECTURE SERIES
Aiming to bring together people from different disciplines and cultural backgrounds to discuss, adapt, and apply frameworks and approaches to community-based research, Community-Based Research in Art History will offer a series of open lectures this semester.
The lectures will focus on the understanding, preservation, and dissemination of Indigenous and traditional arts and knowledge, fostering sustained intellectual exchange across different fields, communities, and cultural contexts.
All lectures will take place via Zoom. Sessions will be recorded and later made available on our website and YouTube channel.
To receive the Zoom link, please register here. The meeting link will appear on the confirmation screen once your registration is complete and will also be sent by email before the first lecture.
THE PROGRAM
All lectures will take place on Fridays at 3:00 PM Brasília Time (BRT, UTC−3). Each event will feature a different topic and guest speaker. Zoom’s translated captions will be available during the sessions.
LECTURE 1 | Sept 25th
Cultural institutions and cultural heritage heritagization processes
3:00 PM (BRT, UTC−3)
Prof. Dr. Diego Ribeiro Lemos (UFPel)
learning objectives
Understand heritagization as a social-political process through which objects, practices and places are transformed into “heritage.”
Trace the historical shift from monument-centered heritage frameworks to broader models such as intangible cultural heritage (e.g. practices, knowledge systems, performance).
Analyze how different institutional models produce authority, legitimacy, and narratives about the past.
Evaluate tensions between state-driven heritage models and community-based or Indigenous approaches to cultural stewardship.
LECTURE 2 | Oct 2nd
Art history: What are images and what do they do?
3:00 PM (BRT, UTC−3)
Prof. Dr. Els Lagrou (UFRJ)
learning objectives
Develop a working definition of “image” across disciplines and communities.
Analyze images not only as representations but as agents that produce meaning and social relations.
Examine how images operate in different “art systems” (museum, ritual context, digital circulation, etc.).
Critically assess how meaning shifts depending on context, audience, and mode of display.
LECTURE 3 | Oct 16t
Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR)
3:00 PM (BRT, UTC−3)
Prof. Dr. Sonya Atalay (UMASS and MIT)
learning objectives
Describe different methodological approaches for community-engaged research
Identify the core principles, advantages and challenges of CBPR in the art historical context
LECTURE 4 | Nov 13th
Introduction to IRB processes and ethical oversight
3:00 PM (BRT, UTC−3)
Prof. Dr. Claudia Leonor López Garcés (Goeldi Museum)
learning objectives
Navigate the Institutional Review Board (IRB) processes while identifying the gaps where standard ethics fail Indigenous protocols.
Design research protocols that prioritize informed consent as a continuous process rather than a one-time signature.
LECTURE 5 | Nov 20th
The protection of Indigenous rights and knowledge
3:00 PM (BRT, UTC−3)
Dr. Fernanda Kaingáng (Funai)
learning objectives
Differentiate between Western intellectual property laws and Indigenous concepts of collective cultural ownership.
Reflect on the ethics of representation, specifically regarding who has the authority to speak for, archive, or display sensitive knowledge.
LECTURE 6 | Nov 27th
The protection of the biome and Indigenous stewardship
3:00 PM (BRT, UTC−3)
Dr. João Paulo Tukano (Bahserikowi - Centre for Indigenous Medicine)
learning objectives
Identify how materials studied in art history carry genetic heritage that is linked to Indigenous traditional knowledge.
Critically analyze the ethical implications of extracting biological data from historic artifacts without community oversight, recognizing this as a continuation of colonial scientific practices.
Evaluate how Indigenous Data Governance principles apply to the digital archiving, sharing, and open-access publication of scientific data derived from Indigenous cultural heritage.