Bruno Ferraz BARTEL and Maria Gleiciane Fontenele PEREIRA
Rev. Cadernos de Campo, Araraquara, v. 24, n. esp. 1, e024005, 2024. e-ISSN: 2359-2419
DOI: https://doi.org/10.47284/cdc.v24iesp.1.19288 7
symbolisms aesthetically expressed in the abebé, the mirror wielded by Oxum, through a
symbolic-aesthetic analysis based on the theory of the imaginary proposed by Gilbert Durand.
Aiming to consider the subjectivities that emanate from the worship body in Candomblé, the
authors seek to explore comprehensible issues, using the aesthetic perspective as a foundation
for reflections.
The approach constructed based on the proposed theory results in an interpretation of
the expressions that represent the notion of the sacred, outlining the artifacts that comprise
religiosity and establishing a path for the materialization of the divine presence. Furthermore,
the analysis seeks to transcend the underlying meanings of the gestural, archetypal, symbolic,
and mythological characteristics present in Oxum’s mirror, synthesizing the guiding questions
through the relevance of sacred artifacts and their hidden connotations.
The interview “THE MATERIAL TURN: INTERVIEW WITH RODRIGO TONIOL”
aims to present the trajectory of Rodrigo Ferreira Toniol, an adjunct professor in the Department
of Cultural Anthropology (DAC) at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and a
permanent professor in the Graduate Program in Sociology and Anthropology (PPGSA) at
UFRJ. His research primarily focuses on the themes of body, health, science, and religion. The
purpose of the interview was to examine how material artifacts reflect and shape the values,
beliefs, practices, and identities of a specific culture. Unlike traditional research approaches,
which often focus on textual or discursive analyses, the interviewee’s research emphasizes
objects as valuable sources of information. This approach recognizes that material artifacts are
not merely accessories but play a central role in people’s daily lives, reflecting their history,
collective memory, and social relationships.
The dossier includes a translation of a text by Birgit Meyer, professor of cultural
anthropology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and one of the editors of the journal Material
Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art, and Belief. This journal aims to explore how religion
manifests itself in material culture, encompassing elements such as images, devotional and
liturgical objects, architecture and sacred spaces, works of art, and mass-produced artifacts.
Ritual, communication, ceremony, instruction, meditation, propaganda, pilgrimage, display,
magic, liturgy, and interpretation constitute many of the practices through which religious
material culture constructs worlds of belief.
The article entitled “MEDIATING ABSENCE – EFFECTING SPIRITUAL
PRESENCE: PICTURES AND THE CHRISTIAN IMAGINATION”, addresses the complex
nature of images, highlighting them as both material presences and products of the imagination