The Faculty of Education at Unicamp held the event on April 16th. Indigenous April at FE: The experience of pluriversityThe event brought together students, faculty, and the wider community for a debate on ways of being and knowing at the university and their tensions with Indigenous knowledge. The afternoon program included the panel discussion “Ways of Being / Ways of Knowing: Encounters and Tensions Between Knowledge at Unicamp” and, in the early evening, the launch of the book. Garden of Ancestral Knowledge: a living territory, organized by professors Alik Wunder, Malu Arruda and Patrícia Veiga.
Between tensions and transformations
Held in the Maurício Tragtenberg Auditorium, the panel discussion moderated by Professor Marco Tobón highlighted the challenges of building a more pluralistic, diverse university open to different forms of knowledge. Right from the opening, it was emphasized that the encounter between different forms of knowledge does not occur harmoniously, but is permeated by disputes, inequalities, and historical processes of exclusion.
Architecture and Urban Planning student Angelina Walípere, representative of the Indigenous Academic Collective at Unicamp, emphasized that the university “is not neutral” and has historically been structured based on a logic that has excluded Indigenous peoples. In her speech, she brought up concrete experiences of racism, isolation, and difficulties in remaining in higher education, highlighting that the Indigenous presence in higher education is the result of struggle and continues to be an ongoing process.
In discussing her academic trajectory, Angelina, from the Baniwa people, also drew attention to the devaluation of indigenous knowledge in areas such as architecture, contrasting the dominant technical logic with construction methods based on the relationship with the territory and nature. For her, pluriversity is only achieved when different ways of existing and knowing can coexist with respect.
Luís Medina, a graduate of the Guarani people, broadened the reflection by questioning the limits of inclusion policies. For him, the challenge is not only to guarantee access, but to redefine the very project of the university. "The university, as it is organized, is often a place of disconnection from life," he stated, criticizing bureaucratic structures and models of knowledge that remain distant from indigenous realities.
The university in question
The professors participating in the panel also highlighted that the ongoing transformations at Unicamp are directly linked to student struggles and social movements. The creation of quota policies, for example, was pointed out as an important milestone, but still insufficient in the face of the challenges of student retention and inclusion.
Professor Alik Wunder emphasized that the arrival of Indigenous students highlighted the institutional unpreparedness to deal with the diversity of experiences and knowledge. According to her, it is not just a matter of adapting existing structures, but of profoundly rethinking the ways of coexistence, teaching, and knowledge production at the university. In this context, initiatives such as the Advisory Commission for Academic Inclusion and Participation of Indigenous Peoples (Caiapi) were highlighted as important spaces for collective construction, even if marked by tensions and institutional limitations.
The Garden as an experience of pluriversity
At 18 PM, in the Garden of Ancestral Knowledge, the public attended the book launch. Garden of Ancestral Knowledge: a living territory, published by Editora FE-Unicamp. The work documents and expands on the experience of the garden, a space created collectively at FE through the interaction between students, faculty, and different communities.
More than a book about the garden, the publication stems from the very process of creating the space. During the painting of the tree trunks, carried out in 2024, students shared the meanings of the graphic designs and aesthetic choices, giving rise to the idea of recording these narratives in an editorial format.
This work brings together texts, images, and accounts that express different ancestries and ways of knowing, organized around so-called "trunks," which represent diverse peoples, cosmologies, and experiences. By valuing these forms of expression, the book proposes a broadening of the very concept of knowledge, incorporating bodily, imagistic, and community dimensions.
Learning from the territory
One of the central themes of both the book and the garden is the notion of learning as a collective and situated experience. Inspired by indigenous and quilombola practices, this perspective breaks with the separation between theory and practice and with the hierarchization of languages, valuing learning through coexistence, listening, and shared creation.
The very construction of the garden reflects this principle. The space emerged from weekly outdoor gatherings during the pandemic, when students and teachers began to observe the environment, imagine possibilities, and gradually transform the place into a space for rest, socializing, and learning.
In this process, the territory ceased to be merely a backdrop and became an active element of the educational experience. As Professor Malu Arruda reported, the relationship with trees, animals, light, wind, and sounds was fundamental to the development of the project, highlighting an understanding of space as a "living body," in constant interaction with those who inhabit it.
A space in constant activity.
More than a completed work, the Garden of Ancestral Knowledge presents itself as a space in permanent construction. The proposal, according to the organizers, is that the place be continuously activated by different initiatives — classes, workshops, discussion groups, storytelling and outreach projects.
This idea of "activation" points to a broader transformation in the way we think about the university. By integrating rest, social interaction, and learning, the garden challenges productivist models and opens up space for other ways of relating to knowledge.
Among the ongoing developments of the project are the creation of accessible materials, such as audio descriptions of the book, and the development of activities aimed at different audiences, including children and schools. The expectation is that the space will continue to be appropriated by the university and external community, expanding its uses and meanings.
A presence that transforms.
Throughout the event, it became evident that the indigenous presence at the university not only challenges existing structures but also produces new ways of thinking about and experiencing the academic space. Whether in the discussions at the panel or in the garden experience, the key point is the need to build a university capable of embracing multiple worlds.
In this sense, the Indigenous April at FE-Unicamp reaffirms the importance of initiatives that go beyond formal inclusion, promoting real encounters between different ways of being and knowing — even if marked by conflicts, negotiations, and continuous learning.
Service
The book Garden of Ancestral Knowledge: a living territory It is available for free download on the FE-Unicamp Publishing House website:
https://editora.fe.unicamp.br/index.php/fe/catalog/book/jardim-saberes
