Jaider Esbell (Normandia, Roraima, 1979 – São Paulo, São Paulo, 2021)
Jaider Esbell was an artist, writer, art educator, geographer, Indigenous cultural curator and producer of the Makuxi ethnic group, as well as an indigenous rights activist. He was born in Normandy, state of Roraima, and lived until the age of 18 in the region that today corresponds to the Raposa – Serra do Sol (Ti Raposa – Serra do Sol) indigenous land. Before becoming an artist, a skill he discovered in childhood, Jaider Esbell took several paths that he believed to lead him to the full manifestation of his abilities. He left his parents' house and arrived in the capital Boa Vista with high school completed, establishing contacts with peers in towns, cities and villages, as was common among indigenous teenagers.
Jaider Esbell has always been filled with cultural mixtures and, with improved school skills and Plural experiences on the great stage of Roraima's life, he articulated in the capital and soon began to work as a technical assistant in a state-owned company. He survived in the city for eight months until he took a public contest for a transmission line electrician. He worked during the day and studied at night on his own at the Public Library. Approved in a federal contest, Jaider Esbell departs on a trip out of state, still in need of rigorous training to develop high skills. At the age of 19, he worked as a transmission line electrician, a role he maintained until 2013. During his career at Eletrobras, he carried out activities in addition to his functions, including environmental education, sociocultural actions, research and bilateral contacts between the company and indigenous communities, reaching the top of his career, receiving awards and leaving a positive legacy throughout the state-owned network.
Jaider Esbell, while working, took the entrance exam — at the time without quotas for indigenous people — and completed the Geography course in 2007 from the University Federal de Roraima (UFRR). In 2009, he obtained a specialization in Environmental Management and Sustainable Development from the Faculty of International Technology. Throughout his life, Esbell has always written and designed, creating ideal conditions to manifest his artistic skills. In 2010, he signed up for the first time in the Public Notice of Literature Bolsa Funarte de Criação Literária, being contemplated and releasing, in 2012, his first book Terreiro de Makunaima – Myths, Legends and Stories in experiences. Initially, he destroyed part of his production, showing the evolution of his creative process.
Jaider Esbell, the following year, begins to paint and, since then, participates in several collective exhibitions, international travel, including Europe, writes other books, articles, produces rich artistic material and distributes in more varied media. In 2013, he was invited to exhibit and teach in the United States (Pitzer College), temporarily leaving Eletrobras for eight months. Before traveling, Jaider Esbell articulated the meeting of all peoples and participated in the collective exhibition Latinoameríndia Mira – Contemporary Visual Arts of Indigenous Peoples, at UFMG.
Jaider Esbell collaborated with works and testimonies of Collective experiences of contemporary indigenous art carried out in Roraima, the result of articulation between artists, artisans, leaders, communities and society in general. The result was the warming up of the local cultural scene and, as a demand, opened his studio, the contemporary indigenous art gallery, with an opening for the collectivity and provision of cultural services, without being a company or NGO, including training students and internships for visual arts students at UFRR. He also stood out in collective work with the Xirixana people, inhabitants of the Yanomami Indigenous Reserve, and with several indigenous peoples from the farm and the mountains.
Jaider Esbell proposed the meeting of all peoples, which is heading towards the fourth edition. Skilled in social networks, he used an entire network of support and solidarity, marking his passage and local cultural diversity in contexts that go beyond borders. Jaider Esbell was one of the highlights of the 34th Bienal de São Paulo and curator of the Paralela Moquém Exhibition - Surarî: contemporary indigenous art, held at the Museum of Modern Art in São Paulo, bringing together works by indigenous artists from different peoples. In 2016, he received nomination for the PIPA Award, the largest award in Brazilian contemporary art, and was also nominated in the 2021 edition. In 2023, his work Entidades, formed by two inflatable snakes of 17 x 1.5 meters, was shown at the theater Amazonas, celebrating the territory of Amazonas.
Jaider Esbell left Eletrobras for good and embarked on the journey that called it Roraima – Arte e Vida, a journey to Brazil from house to house, consolidating its universal language in art. In 2024, he received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa Post Mortem by the UFRR, recognizing his contribution to art, culture and the appreciation of indigenous history and traditions in Brazil. Jaider Esbell died on November 2, 2021, in São Paulo, leaving a lasting legacy in contemporary indigenous art.
