Rituals of Beauty – Featherwork and Body Painting in Amazonia: A Photo Exhibition at the Museum of Ethnography, Budapest

Budapest has a well-earned reputation for world-class museums, and the Museum of Ethnography is adding another remarkable chapter to that story. Opening on May 19, 2026 and running all the way through January 4, 2027, the exhibition Rituals of Beauty – Featherwork and Body Painting in Amazonia invites visitors into the vibrant ceremonial world of the Mebengokre (Kayapó) people of the Amazon. If you’re looking for a culturally rich and visually stunning experience during your stay in Budapest, this is one not to miss.

What Is the Exhibition About?

At the heart of this exhibition is a simple but profound question: what does it mean to be beautiful? For the Mebengokre people of Brazil, beauty is not a private or individual matter — it is a collective act, a living language written on the body through paint, feathers, and ritual adornment. The exhibition explores how body decoration, ceremonial dress, and participation in community celebrations reflect the Mebengokre worldview, mythology, and social identity.

Visitors will discover the techniques and materials used in body painting, the mythological stories behind geometric patterns and colors, and how these visual codes form a precisely regulated language that every community member can read. The exhibition also explains the cultural significance of ear and lip stretching among Mebengokre men and women — practices that mark social status and life stage rather than individual expression.

The Archive Behind the Exhibition

The photographs on display come from the archive of Gustaaf Verswijver, a Belgian cultural anthropologist of international renown who has been conducting fieldwork among the Mebengokre since 1974. Four years ago, his extraordinary archive was entrusted to the Museum of Ethnography — a collection of over 47,000 photographs, around 90 hours of film footage, audio recordings, field notes, and nearly 400 objects.

This exhibition is the first public presentation of the archive, focusing on Amazonian indigenous cultures and the nature of anthropological photography. Alongside Verswijver’s images, visitors will also see photographs by his wife Martine de Roeck, who regularly accompanied him on fieldwork trips. Together, their images span five decades, from 1974 to 2019, and place analogue and digital-era photographs side by side to reveal how both the Mebengokre community and the practice of anthropological research have changed over time.

What Will You See?

The exhibition takes you well beyond documentary photography. Expect to encounter:

• Festive scenes and everyday life images from Mebengokre communities in Brazil
• Close-up documentation of body painting patterns, featherwork, and ceremonial objects
• Photographs and film material showing naming ceremonies and other rituals
• A look at how the community’s relationship with the outside world has shifted over 50 years
• Objects collected by Verswijver during his decades of fieldwork
• Insights into how digital technology has influenced both anthropological research and local indigenous culture

The exhibition is curated by György Szeljak, Judit Csorba, and Orsolya Danó.

Opening Event – Talk with Gustaaf Verswijver

If you happen to be in Budapest on May 19, make sure to catch the special opening-day event. From 17:00 to 18:30, the exhibition’s curators will sit down with Gustaaf Verswijver himself for an English-language conversation about his fieldwork, his approach to photography, and the Mebengokre way of life. The talk takes place in the MÉTA tér space within the museum and is a rare opportunity to hear directly from a researcher who has spent half a century living alongside one of the Amazon’s most culturally rich communities.

Practical Information

• Exhibition dates: May 19, 2026 – January 4, 2027
• Venue: Museum of Ethnography (Néprajzi Múzeum), Budapest
• Opening talk: May 19, 2026, 17:00–18:30, in English, at MÉTA tér

The Museum of Ethnography is located in the heart of Budapest, making it easy to combine with other sightseeing. Whether you have a deep interest in anthropology or simply love powerful photography, Rituals of Beauty offers a genuinely moving window into a world most of us will never see firsthand.