MI MODA INDÍGENA is a brand/project created by indigenous women Rebeca Ferreira and Seanne Oliveira from the Munduruku people. In November 2021, fashion designer and teacher Seanne Oliveira, known artistically as Seanny Artes, created the Intercultural Indigenous Fashion Showcase project to promote the creative economy of indigenous people from Manaus living in an urban context in the city of Manaus.
MI MODA INDÍGENA began with an Indigenous Fashion Training Course, later called the Stylist Trainer Program, in December 2021 in the Parque das Tribos Community, with the participation of 32 indigenous students from 15 different ethnicities. The project also reached the Inhaã-Bé Village, Watyamã Community, and Estrela de Davi Kokama Community. In April 2022, through the Amazonas Cultura em Rede public notice from the State Secretary of Culture and Creative Economy, the I Intercultural Indigenous Fashion Showcase, 2022 edition, was held, resulting from the course developed in the communities of Manaus. The first edition had the theme “Indigenous Graphics: Tradition, Ancestry, and Contemporaneity,” which presented the Ethnic Multiculturalism of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon through the graphics embedded in clothing and on bodies. In July 2022, the project established itself as a brand, named MI Moda Indígena, as part of the ongoing development of the project.
In 2023, MI Moda Indígena became the first Brazilian Indigenous Fashion brand to participate in an International Fashion Week through the British magazine High Profile Magazine and the company Best of Brazil CIC, consolidating partnerships and developing projects with the British community. In 2024, MI Moda Indígena was present at the JCA London Fashion Academy of designer Professor Jimmy Choo in April, conducting a workshop for fashion design students; and established a partnership with the organizations CVS Brent and National Lottery Heritage Fund in collaboration with Best of Brazil and JCA during fashion week in September. Currently, MI Moda Indígena has collaborations with Bullock Inclusion (England), Tucum Italia (Italy), UBAI Associazione (Italy), and Buscando Novos Caminhos (Germany).
a. Indigenous Fashion Training Course.
a. Intercultural Indigenous Fashion Showcase, editions;
b. Intercultural Indigenous Fashion Showcase, pocket edition.
a. Production of Clothing and Items for sales and events.
SAVE:
Biodegradable Textile Production
RESCUE:
Recycling / Thinking about Sustainable and Less Polluting Fashion
LOVE:
Support for Indigenous People through Education / Return to Communities
Rebeca Ferreira is originally from Manaus in the state of Amazonas, Brazil, and is indigenous to the Munduruku people (maternal) from the Tapajós Valley and Mura (paternal). She grew up in a peripheral context, living in stilt houses within urban communities in Manaus. The daughter of visual artists, she was influenced by her parents towards the arts and entrepreneurship from a young age. She studied Contemporary Dance at Sarene Lima (2004), Classical Ballet at Sesi (2006), Jazz at Claudio Santoro (2008), and Belly Dance in the Bellyssimas do Oriente project at UEA (2016). At the age of 12, she began composing songs and writing poetry. In high school, she was already writing scripts for films and theater, which led her to enroll in a degree in Language and Portuguese Literature at the Federal University of Amazonas, though she did not complete the course. At UFAM, she was a CNPq scholarship holder in the Center for Studies and Research in Differential Psychopedagogy (NEPPD) from 2012 to 2013. She was a PIBIC/FAPEAM scholarship holder in the project titled “The Sociocultural Role in the Language Development of Children Aged 0 to 5” from 2013 to 2014. Her project was published in the proceedings of the University of Minho in Porto, Portugal, in 2014.
She volunteered at the Continuing Education Center, Technology Development, and Service Provision for the Public Education Network (CEFORT/FACED) from 2013 to 2014.
In 2016, she began working as a model in exhibitions, parades, and carnival through the Seanny Artes studio. In 2017, she worked in children’s theater companies, in production, scriptwriting, research, and as an actress. At the end of 2017, she founded the artistic-cultural group Seanny Artes Produções; a performance art group of cosplayers and Amazonian artistic experiments. In partnership with other children’s theater companies and nerd/geek cosplayer groups, she participated in and developed theatrical plays and small performances for the youth audience.
In 2018, she participated in the extension project of Theater at UEA. In 2019, she began her undergraduate studies in Theater at the State University of Amazonas. At the university, she was a FAPEAM scholarship holder for the extension project Coral da UEA under conductor Fabiano Cardoso. She was also a scholarship holder for the Madrigal Amazonas of UEA, under conductor Adroaldo Cauduro. She received a scholarship from PAIC/FAPEAM for the project titled “INTERCULTURALITY ON STAGE: Construction of Amazonian Children’s Dramaturgy Concerning Sustainability and Forest Preservation,” which was renewed for “INTERCULTURALITY ON STAGE: Construction of Children’s Dramaturgy and Its Correlation with the Amazonian Identities of Women, Spirituality, Musicality, and Childhood” (2021-2022). She had projects published at conferences at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (Experimental Workshop on Expression and Body Awareness / Experimental Workshop on Children’s Games and Play) and at the XI Congress of ABRACE – Performing Arts and Human Rights in Times of Pandemic and Post-Pandemic.
In 2021, she was the co-creator of the project INDIGENOUS INTERCULTURAL FASHION SHOW, conceived by designer Seanny Artes. In 2024, she presented the circuit of the project “Workshop Immersion of Body Experience: Interculturality of Amazonian Bodies” at the JCA London Fashion Academy, Germany, and Italy.
Seanne Oliveira, known artistically as Seanny Artes, is originally from Manaus in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. She is indigenous to the Munduruku people from the Tapajós Valley, with her father’s roots in the Terra Preta Village located in the state of Pará. A self-taught artist, she began creating drawings and paintings at the age of 13, inspired by nature and Amazonian ancestry.
At 19, she apprenticed under visual artist Anísio Mello at the Esther Mello Arts Lyceum. She debuted as an artist in 1991 with her first solo exhibition in Manaus at the Casa da Cultura, located on Rua da Instalação. The exhibition focused on graphite drawing techniques, with the theme “Artistic Nude Women,” inspired by the ancestry of the spiritual midwives of the Munduruku people. From 1992 to 1995, she was a partner in the company Adonart’s Desenho e Pintura Artística and participated in several collective exhibitions from 1991 to 2000.
Between 2001 and 2005, she stepped away from artistic work to dedicate herself to her family. From 2005 to 2008, she pursued a degree in Theological Sciences at Faculdade Boas Novas, completing her thesis on “Discussion of the Influence of the Christian Evangelical Church on the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency.”
In 2006, she began working as a Costume Assistant at the warehouses of the Secretariat of Culture and Creative Economy of the State of Amazonas (AADC).
In 2009, she returned to artistic activities as an Arts Monitor for the Young Citizen Project of the Government of the State of Amazonas. From 2009 to 2010, she pursued a postgraduate degree in Higher Education Teaching at Faculdade Boas Novas.
From 2010 to 2015, she pursued a degree in Visual Arts Education at the Federal University of Amazonas, completing her thesis “The Inclusion of the Visually Impaired in Artistic Painting,” which involved processes developed in Public Teaching Networks in the State of Amazonas with visually and intellectually impaired individuals. Between 2015 and 2017, she studied Belly Dance in the Bellyssimas do Oriente extension project at UEA. In 2016, she created the Seanny Artes Atelier, focusing on crafts, scenography, and Amazonian costumes for parades, carnival, and Amazonian creations.
From 2017 to 2020, she coordinated an artistic-cultural group focused on theatrical languages for a youth and geek audience called Seanny Artes Produções, being responsible for the production of costumes, sets, and shows. She participated as an actress in the play “Princesses and Heroes” (2017). She also participated in the extension project Free Theater Course at UEA (2018). She directed and produced the theatrical play “Heroes: Saving the Sad Little Clown” (2019). In 2019, she created the Trupe da Feirinha, a clown collective where she portrayed the clown Jaraqui.
In 2021, she formalized Seanny Artes Produções as a company with a physical store/studio. That same year, she created the project MI MODA INDÍGENA – Indigenous Intercultural Fashion Show, a collaborative project focused on fashion production education in the indigenous communities of Manaus. The students of the project were launched in April 2022 at the “I Indigenous Intercultural Fashion Show in Manaus,” with participation from over 32 indigenous students enrolled in the Stylist Trainee Program. Between 2023 and 2024, she participated in collaborative projects with London Fashion Week alongside institutions such as High Profile Magazine (Best of Brazil CIC), National Lottery Heritage Fund, CVS Brent, and JCA London Fashion Academy. In 2024, she participated in a series of workshops in Germany and Italy with the associations: UBAI and TUCUM in Italy, and Buscando Novos Caminhos in Germany. Currently, she is developing the project “Art with Touch: Inclusion of the Visually Impaired in Artistic Painting” in collaboration with the Braille Library of Amazonas since 2024, supported by cultural grants and in partnership with Bullock Inclusion CIC in London. In 2025, she graduated in Fashion and Business from Facuminas.
