Eduardo Archetti in Memoriam
The following pictures were taken by Laurie Obbink, extraordinary photographer and director of the International Symposium Program at the Wenner-Grenn Foundation. They were taken at the World Anthropologies Symposium held in Villa Luppis, near Venice in Italy, in mid March 2002.
These photos show the many wonderful facets of Eduardo we all came to cherish at this conference - su risa exuberante y contagiosa - his contagious and exuberant laughter; his love of good wines and late night drinks; his contagious passion in discussing anthropology, Argentina, América Latina, soccer, the academy, or what have you, and all of that, sprinkled with the emotion of amistad , friendship -even if you had just met him. As is often the case in Latin America, Eduardo respiraba antropología -he lived anthropology intensely as much more than a profession or even a vocation; for him anthropology was a way of life, and of course to talk about anthropology was to talk about life and politics. Above all, most of us left Villa Luppis, after a week of discussions, dinners, walks, and nights at the bar or in the lounge with the distinct sensation of having being blessed by the presence of a special human being. Una persona muy especial precisamente por su tremendo amor a la vida.
Eduardo "Lali" Archetti. Nunca lo olvidaremos, and we will always smile in his memory.
Lista de fotos en este grupo.
1. Eduardo Laughing (with Dick Fox)
2. Eduardo, Dick Fox, and Arturo Escobar at dinner
3. Eduardo and Michal Osterweil
4. Eduardo outside a regional winery in the Friule (Vigna Traverso) we visited
5. Eduardo with Shinji Yamashita, Josie Smart, and Otávio Velho
6. Participants at the Symposium (from left to right: Dick Fox, Susana Narotzky, Arturo Escobar, Marisol de la Cadena, Otávio Velho, Gustavo Lins Ribeiro, Esteban Krotz, Sandy Toussaint, Shiv Visvanathan, Shinji Yamashita, Josie Smart, Eduardo, Michal Osterweil, Nikolai Vahktin, Eeva Berglund, Johannes Fabian, Verena Stolcke, Laurie Obbink.
7. Gustavo Lins Ribeiro, Marisol de la Cadena, Otávio Velho, Eduardo, Eeva Berglund.
8. A bit of Johannes, Eduardo, Esteban, Eeva, Marisol, a bit of Sandy (?), Susana, Nikolai.
The following pictures are by Louise Silberling, a Cornell sociologist who does research in Brazil, who became close with Eduardo and Kristi-Anne when they spent a sabbatical at UT, Austin (Texas) in the spring of 2003. The pictures are great; yet since the pieces of "Americana" on display might lead to some peculiar interpretations (for those who did not know Eduardo well), the following note by Louise should dispel any idea that Eduardo was into flag-waiving!!
"Yes, Eduardo was extremely critical (of the US in general and the US academy) -but he almost always made a joke of it; his sense of humor was tremendous. Every one of those pictures and situations is indeed wryly sardonic and ironic, which made me laugh even harder. Eduardo wanted them taken. The Mall fast-food eatery, a Texas rodeo, plastic American flags in the pharmacy... each scenario is some sort of strange, mixed-metaphor, yet iconic, bit of American culture yet Eduardo appreciated the contradictions if so terribly deeply and so beautifully. They continued to write me from all over the world these last two years, always something terribly wry yet affectionate."
