Divino Alves Faleiros was born in Uruana (GO) in 1958. His family used to work on a farm and in 1968 they moved to Brasília (DF). “We moved in search of better schooling, and I ended up staying. I worked as a bricklayer and when there was no job I managed in other ways. I used to make pictures using coloured thread. One day Mr. Manuel Aires asked whether I wanted to learn how to work with buriti palm tree leaf stalk. And so I started watching him work. It was good work, because all I needed was a small knife. Later, I met Mr. Quinca and loved the totems he made. I tried to copy one, but it wasn’t the same”. From 1985 Divino started working seriously with buriti palm stalks. “But it was a tough time, I almost gave up”. He only went back to work with this material in 1999, after securing a job in the public sector. “But I don’t work with buriti palm tree leaf stalk as a hobby. I do it because I need to, and my wife and daughter help me by painting the pieces. I always try to develop new things, like a clock, and right now I’m trying to make a parrot. But the most popular pieces are the totems, which are very different from the ones Mr. Quinca used to make. The hat is different and the faces are square”.
DIVINO ALVES FALEIROS
TOTEMS
Buriti palm tree stalk leaf,
60 cm tall.
Private collection
TOTEM
Buriti palm tree leaf stalk,
30 cm tall
 
Brazlândia
Planaltina
 
North
Center West
Northeast
Southeast
South
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