In this end of season episode Milena & Megan cover Brazilian educator, activist and ceramic artist Celeida Tostes (1929 – 1995) & Native American archaeologist Bertha Parker (1907–1978)
Celeida Tostes
One thing you’ll learn today about Megan that you didn’t need to know, is that as a ceramic artist there are times she wants to cover herself in clay. Well, today we’re talking about an artist that did just that. While Megan is driven by the primal urge to become one with the earth, today we learn the rich symbolism that prompted Brazilian artist Celeida Tostes to create her most iconic work – the 1979 performance piece Passage. This piece is only once of many artworks this prolific artist created in her decades long career. Today we cover key points of Celeida’s work – why she covered herself in clay, the community work she did in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas and her creative investigation of ovenbird nests. This episode is informative as always with a little TMI thrown into the mix.
Selected Work
Passagem (Passage) performance from 1979. Photographed by Raquel Silva
Wanna know more? Always a book for that (usually) (or article)
Celeida Tostes by editors Marcus de Lontra Costa & Raquel Silva. Available to read for free, this is a great collection of essays in both Portuguese and English
Bertha Parker
Keeping our earth theme going, today Milena brings us the first Native American woman archaeologist Bertha Parker. Working as a self taught scientist, Bertha contributed to our understanding of ancient people (and giant sloths) here in North America. In her 71 years, Betha work encompasses both the dig sites and silver screen. Today Milena shares how this woman from NY state ended up on the West coast documenting the history of native peoples, cohosting her own tv show and advising
