The Museum of Anthropology at UBC is known for its culturally relevant exhibitions. These exhibits often focus on cultures, world arts and indigenous peoples. Currently the museum displays an exhibit named after “one of the world’s most culturally, socially, and linguistically diverse regions”.

I think, that most of us have heard something about the amazon rainforest early on, maybe even in Kindergarten, but often all we know about the amazon is that it is one of the largest tropical rainforests in the world. Personally, I’ve been lucky enough to travel the world as a ‘third-culture kid’ over the last few years, but I haven’t managed to get anywhere close to the amazon rainforest in South America. Therefore, the MOA exhibit offered me an insight into the lives of the people that live in the region and taught me about the diverse Indigenous South American cultures. The exhibit displays many artefacts and handicraft items such as textiles, carvings and feather works. I was especially impressed by the feather works and learned that these items are often used by amazonian tribes for traditional ceremonies. I find it amazing that the people on the banks of the amazon river still live without electricity, flowing water and any form of technology. The people and the tribes still use ancient healing rituals, go hunting for meat in the forest and collect fruits from the tropical plants. At the same time, I found it shocking that these tribes are losing huge areas of their homes, that they have lived in for so many centuries due to deforestation and the oil industry. Especially the Brazilian and the Peruvian Governments have to put more effort into the protection of the amazon rainforest. So, that the next generation can still witness and live off the amazon forest.

As a student, I obviously also enjoyed the hammocks in the exhibit that invited people to just take a quick break of their busy schedules and reflect on the exhibition. I’ve always been interested in learning about new and different cultures and the Amazonia exhibit was bio exception. It was super interesting to learn about the South American culture and admire some of the artefacts. I realized that I have to take time off and look at some of the MOA exhibitions on a more regular basis.

http://moa.ubc.ca/portfolio_page/amazonia/