Departures of note

Marciana Nonata Dias was a Brazilian master artisan and one of the foremost guardians of the louceiras do Maruanum tradition, the ancestral clay-pottery craft of the rural Maruanum district in Macapá, Amapá. For a lifetime she shaped clay into pots, trays, bowls, cups and stoves, keeping alive a technique passed down through generations of women who found in clay a means of livelihood, identity and resistance.

Her work helped give visibility to Afro-Amapá traditions and carried the knowledge of Maruanum to exhibitions inside and outside the state. She was recognized as a master artisan and received the Carteira Nacional de Mestre Artesã, one of the highest honors granted to holders of traditional knowledge in Brazil.

Beyond pottery, Marciana was a prominent figure of the marabaixo, the Afro-Amapá cultural celebration, taking part in the circles and festivities that keep the ancestral heritage of the state's traditional peoples alive. She died on 19 October 2026 at the age of 86.