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Invitation to the XVI World Congress
Florianópolis, Brasil, 2011 |
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To the Archaeologists of all over the world Message from the President on the organization of the XVIº UISPP Congress, in Florianopolis, August 2011 Dear Archaeologists, During the XVº Congress, held in Lisbon in September 2006, the UISPP decided to carry through the XVIº Congress in Brazil in 2011, being its General Secretary, and the main responsible for the organization of the event, Dr. Rossano Lopes Bastos, of the 11th IPHAN Regional Superintendence and current President of the Brazilian Society of Archaeology - SBA. In the same occasion has been elected the President, who signs this letter. As all of you already know, our Union and its congresses, that are held every 5 years, aim at congregating archaeologists of the entire world to deal with world archaeology, without exclusion of topics, periods or subjects, trying to be the most comprehensive as possible. The choice of Brazil, a developing country, part of Latin America, can be considered as a sign to the archaeologists of the world, pointing to the fact that the areas that are not part of the First World, deserve, in this moment, a special care. Latin America has in common with the other areas of the world, the development of its populations until the constitution of a native state, subject of the largest part of the archaeological research. But Latin America shares with other continents, mainly with Africa, Oceania, in part also with Asia, the conquest trauma, of domination and colonization by European countries, process that originated multi-ethnic, but hardly multi-cultural, societies. This situation pressures the archaeologists to deal not only, or predominantly, with the native social formations, of independent development, but with the entire process, in which national societies were born, incorporating various ethnic groups, American natives, Europeans, Africans and Asians, with unequal possibilities, functions and rights. The Brazilian archaeology, recent and hardly known, will have the opportunity to show to colleagues of other countries and other continents the variety and richness of the indigenous cultures and societies, as well as the colonization process that generated the Brazilian nation. The invitation of the President is not to turn the congress into a Brazilians and Latin Americans meeting, but that, in the occasion, it may be perceived that the areas peripheral to the First World can offer important contributions for the knowledge and survival of humankind. Finally, the President would like to recall that the success of the congress does not depend mainly on its headship, but on the importance of the subjects chosen by the congress participants, on its social meaning and on its supranational understanding. Come to Florianopolis in 2011 and share your knowledge with colleagues from all around the world. October, 2006 Prof. Dr. Peter Ignácio Schmitz - President |