Fernanda Liberti: Creativity means everything to me. I draw inspiration from the most disparate things, from a street mural to a facial expression, a restaurant menu, a song or a feeling. I collect found objects, curating my little web of treasures. Even when I was forced to take up random jobs to support myself at the beginning of my creative career, I looked for art and beauty in everything. I knew one day I would be an artist. I have always loved to explore different mediums and ways of creating, and being an ADHD double gemini, it is part of me to do many things at once. Photography, filmmaking, collage and fashion are tools I use to spread messages and reach different people. They allow me to broaden my horizons and interests. Being a multimedia creative means that every aspect of your practice enhances, or complements, the other, which is something I love about it.

Fernanda Liberti: It was through reading an article about Brazilian artefacts that I became familiar with the Tupinambá mantle: an ancestral, feathered cape that used to be worn by this specific Indigenous community in Brazil which, due to colonialism, could no longer be found in the country. I was surprised to realise that there wasn’t much information about it; even running a Google search would only lead to a handful of results. When I applied for a Photography MA at the Royal College of Art a few months later, I knew exactly what I would devote myself to during my time there. My goal was to make the repatriation and museological preservation of the mantles a reality. Since the beginning of the project, I zoomed in on the perspective of the Tupinambá today, striving to render what the physical absence of this garment means to them.

Fernanda Liberti: I stalked her [laughs]. I needed to find a way of gathering more insights on the mantle, so I asked some of my friends who have links to the Indigenous movement in Brazil to put me in touch with the Tupinambá community, but it didn’t work out. Then one day in 2020, an online exhibition on Glicéria’s work - the first person to recreate the feathered cape in centuries - finally popped up on Google. I knew that she was pretty well-known, that she had spoken at the United Nations and had a picture with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, our current president, all of which led me to think I was never going to be able to team up with her. Instead of giving up, I kept on trying to get in touch with her. At some point, I found Daniela Alarcon’s contact through a hashtag on Instagram. She had written a book with Glicéria so, having pleaded my case with a gigantic message, I eventually managed to reach out to her directly. Without Glicéria, this project wouldn’t exist: having the pleasure of listening to her, let alone working and travelling together, has been an incredible honour.

Fernanda Liberti: In one of our earliest conversations in May 2021, Glicéria asked me bluntly, “what do you want from me?” I told her that, besides photographing her, I wanted to be her ally, aiding her work and research. After hearing my answer, she asked me to visit her right away. Our creative collaboration reflects the way Glicéria wants the world to perceive her, her community and mission. My aim was to understand how to best use my voice to amplify hers, rather than speaking on her behalf. As there were no official accounts detailing the connection between the female Tupinambá community and the cape - all documents related to it were written by white European men in the 1500s - we wanted the series to spotlight women and their relationship to it. On our first real encounter, I gave Glicéria a book with an image of a woman wearing the mantle. On a recent visit we paid to the Oxford University Library, we found another one. Just like she skillfully worked the threads of the cape breathing new life into its long-lasting tradition, Glicéria has also woven a net of friends, allies, researchers and curators intent on collaborating to protect its endangered heritage.

Fernanda Liberti: When Glicéria invited me to go see her, I dragged two of my best friends on an impromptu road trip to Serra do Padeiro, which I had never visited before. At first, I thought the series was only going to be about the mantle. Once there, what got me was the family love and empathy. I remember the first words Glicéria said to me when we arrived at her mother’s house were, “now you are at home”, and I really was. The images from the series were shot during my first two visits there, so they show my early impressions and focus well. The first visit had a stronger focus on the cape, the second coincided with the Tupinambá’s three-day-long New Year’s party in January, one of the most beautiful festivities I have ever attended. My favourite memory from it is waking up early, going to Dona Maria’s (Glicéria’s mother’s) house for breakfast and listening to everyone gossiping and laughing. The people of Serra do Padeiro have such a loving and peaceful nature.

Fernanda Liberti: The fact that the first Tupinambá mantle will finally be returned by Copenhagen’s Nationalmuseet to the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro by the end of 2023 is a success that shows the relevance of this series. There are many more Tupinambá objects we don’t know of stored in the collections of European institutions and museums. We are currently working on a feature film about it, so the search never ends. Working with Glicéria taught me about the importance of the land, family, heritage and our ancestors, who live around and within us. She encouraged me to look for the fragments that went lost in my family history: my paternal great-grandparents left Syria to go to Brazil and never went back. My great grandfather died with the wish of taking his children to see his motherland, to return home. As my grandmother died and her siblings reached their elder days, the dream stayed unfulfilled. My new project will start from my family archive to expand into today’s world and sew the gap between seemingly unrelated people, countries and moments in time.

Fernanda Liberti’s Dancing with the Tupinambá is open at Belfast Exposed, Belfast, through 23 September