Yellow Gold, 2024

Abstract

In July 2019, a robbery at Guarulhos International Airport resulted in the theft of 720 kg of gold destined for the USA and Canada. In the same month, the Waiãpi Indigenous Land was invaded, leading to the murder of the chief Emyra. The Bolsonaro government, which had recently authorized mining on indigenous lands, played down the incident. These incidents introduce a reflection on the continuous and institutionalized expropriation of life and land in Brazil, reinforcing a developmentalist and extractivist model, which today is mixed with new technological infrastructures, continuing colonial domination. The article dialogues with the work of artists who criticize these systems, proposing different forms of reimagining Brazilian territory.