Afrobrazilian Artists Reconnect with African Heritage Through Contemporary Art Practices
Artists of Afro-Brazilian descent are developing innovative visual expressions to bridge Brazil and Africa while confronting colonial legacies. In 2022, Larissa De Souza's portrait 'Nã Agontime,' representing an 18th-century queen from Dahomey, was displayed in the Enciclopédia Negra exhibition at Rio de Janeiro's Museum of Art. Aline Motta's video trilogy, '(Other) Foundations' (2017-2019), which examines transatlantic connections, was presented in Angola during the 35th São Paulo Biennial in 2023. Jaime Lauriano's work 'Terra Brasilis: Invasao, Etnocídio e Apropriação Cultural' (2015) critiques Brazil's origins and he also co-authored the Enciclopédia Negra project. The cultural visit of Nigeria's Ooni of Ife to Salvador in 2018 highlighted these exchanges. De Souza is set to unveil new pieces at São Paulo's Simōes de Assis gallery in January 2024.
Key facts
- Larissa De Souza's portrait 'Nã Agontime' (2022) was exhibited at Rio de Janeiro's Museum of Art in 2022
- Aline Motta's video trilogy includes '(Other) Foundations' (2017-2019), filmed with the Egun community in Lagos, Nigeria
- Jaime Lauriano's work 'Terra Brasilis: Invasao, Etnocídio e Apropriação Cultural' (2015) uses Pemba Chalk on black cotton
- The Enciclopédia Negra project features over 500 entries and has exhibited in São Paulo, Lisbon, and Porto
- The 35th São Paulo Biennial toured to Luanda, Angola in 2023 with a majority-Black curatorial team
- Nigeria's Ooni of Ife visited Salvador, Brazil in 2018
- Larissa De Souza has an exhibition opening at Simōes de Assis gallery in São Paulo in January 2024
- Brazil received the largest number of enslaved Africans during the Atlantic slave trade
Entities
Artists
- Larissa De Souza
- Jaime Lauriano
- Aline Motta
- Dandara dos Palmares
- Tereza de Benguela
- King Agonglo
- Na Agontimé
- Pedro Álvares Cabral
- Anakwa Dwamena
- Flávio Gomes
- Lilia Moritz Schwarcz
Institutions
- Museum of Art Rio de Janeiro
- Enciclopédia Negra
- São Paulo Biennial
- Casa das Minas
- Bamako Encounters
- Simōes de Assis gallery
- ArtReview
Locations
- Rio de Janeiro
- Brazil
- São Paulo
- São Luis
- Lisbon
- Portugal
- Porto
- Luanda
- Angola
- Lagos
- Nigeria
- Benin
- Sierra Leone
- Salvador
- Bahia
- Recife
- Ouidah
- Elmina
- Benguela
- Sao Tome
- Goree
- New York
- United States
- Accra
- Ghana
- Morocco