Shock, landruá, sucubé, munzuá... Fishing Design in Maranhão

Choque, landruá, sucubé, munzuá… The Design of Fishing in Maranhão is the title of the exhibition that brings together 120 pieces created by 80 artisans, from 41 municipalities in Maranhão. They are nets, traps, aviaries, storage and transport items, as well as oars and needles for weaving nets, with names that vary from region to region and functionalities appropriate to the type and depth of water for which they were created. The quality of the pieces, with their ingenious design and improved aesthetics, caught the attention of CCVM curator, Paula Porta. “As we got to know this rich universe of fishing artifacts better, we realized that we could put a spotlight on this production, valuing this wealth of intangible heritage”. The exhibition points out the abundance of fresh and salt waters in Maranhão as the favorable context for the development of this vast production of artifacts that spreads throughout the state, whose Water Map is a veritable lacy. “The exhibition highlights and pays homage to the artisans and artisans of fishing, who continue producing, perpetuating traditions or creating their own solutions and forms, with a refined sense of aesthetics. Most of these artisans are also active in fishing and, in addition to mastering artisanal activities, they have great knowledge about the environment, as well as the myths and stories associated with the waters”, highlights Paula Porta. The pieces were collected by researchers from MAPEARTE, an extensive mapping project of handicraft from Maranhão, which has already gone through 70 cities, seeking out artisans in activity and recording their work in order to make it better known and valued. MAPEARTE was started in January 2017, under the coordination of Paula Porta, has the support of the Government of Maranhão and the sponsorship of Vale. To date, it has identified 3,600 artisans. The exhibition makes available to the public a catalog with the name, photo, contacts and indications about the production of 515 artisans in fishing, from 70 municipalities, among them are the creators of the exhibited pieces. The intention is to encourage people to have contact with the artifacts, to make use of them in different and creative ways and to help publicize and value this artisanal production that is so close, but that sometimes becomes invisible and runs the risk of disappearing, exchanged for industrial artifacts. The CCVM curator emphasizes that “contact with the artisan is always enriching, due to the sense of observation, the worldview, the knowledge he generally possesses, it is worth traveling through these interiors, meeting these people and bringing special pieces”. Chico Lima has been a fisherman for over thirty years, he was born on the banks of the Mearim river and makes cages with materials found in nature: maharaja, arrow and earth-eared thorn. “We use the experience of the ancients, we remove the thorns with the three-day dark moon, to have good durability. I thought the exhibition was great, because it is a dissemination of the work of the people, the artisanal fisherman, who know how to make fishing gear. I'm passionate about river waters and preserving the environment”, says the artisan, who has two pieces in the exhibition and will come to São Luís for the opening. The fisherman and artisan, Dogerval Pestana, from the city of Axixá, fished with a hook and net, but found it easier to fish with manzuá. Today he makes his own traps and only works with them. “My father did it and I started to do it watching others do it. I use a pineapple stick or dog stick and tatica vine. We put the manzuá one day and take it off the next. Here on the Munim River I catch traíra, husk, husk shrimp and lobster.” The fisherman sees the exhibition as an important dissemination of his work, “I never imagined participating in an exhibition, it's another incentive for us!”, he rejoices. Invited as the exhibition's associate curator, Jandir Gonçalves has been researching popular culture in Maranhão since the late 1980s and is a great connoisseur of fishing traps. He recalls that its diversity is due to the geography of the state's waters and the intelligence of the fishermen. "In the low, low and low, in the creek and rivers, in the lowland with floodable fields, in the crevices, in the bays or even in the Maranhense Gulf, there they are, big and small fishing traps engendered by skillful hands and extraordinary minds, able to build tools and fishing strategies adapting to the specifics of what they intend to fish.” Crafts, intangible heritage, water, environment, sustainability, traditional knowledge, popular design are some of the themes that the exhibition encourages to discuss and that will be addressed by the team of monitors in the visits of around 400 public school students who are received daily at the Vale Maranhão Cultural Center. For those interested in design and decoration, for those interested in learning more about the world of fishing or the construction techniques of artifacts, for those who enjoy handicraft and traditional knowledge and for those who love things from Maranhão, the exhibition it is a must visit. The exhibition is open to visitors until November 30th.