his trips to the Amazon at the heart of an exhibition

“As a child, I liked to pick up the stones,” says Marie-Paule Imberti, 47, from Savoie. Far from the image of Indiana Jones, this training ethnologist has waited almost twenty years before going on a mission. Direction Brazil, where she immersed herself three times, between 2018 and 2022, sharing the daily life of three villages nestled in the depths of the Amazon forest, time for her to collect sound objects and testimonies.

Each time, the journey begins with four days of journey from Lyon: the plane first, then the bus, sometimes the truck, and always the canoe, before a walk to reach their destination. “After that, I barely get to know each other, collect tools, textiles, ceramics, basketry, arcs, arrows, before leaving,” she explains.

Marie-Paule Imberti buys or proceeds by barter. “Before my arrival, the villagers communicated their needs to me: dresses for the Kayapo community, an electric generator for the Wayana, for example. They also asked me to bring back glass pearls for their craft activities. “And to continue:” The days on the spot are organized to the rhythm of sunrise and sunset, weather. You have to be curious, attentive, to adapt to the daily life of the populations and above all … not to be pressed, ”she admits.

Before each departure, she must reassure her loved ones, find the words to tell her two children that she will be absent for a month, without the possibility of contacting them. The return to the home is also delicate. “My entourage would like me to relate my experiences but I need several weeks to relieve myself,” she confesses.

In Lyon, other tasks await it: put your notes to the clean, cross your information with specialists, list the objects collected … Currently, the public can discover the fruit of its fascinating work in “Amazonies”, an exhibition retracing the history and diversity of Aboriginal communities.