Brazilian Art Institutions Confront Racial Exclusion with Curatorial Shifts and New Platforms

A critical examination of racial hegemony in Brazilian art history reveals systemic exclusion of Black, Indigenous, and Asian-descendant artists. The 12th Mercosul Biennial, curated by Andrea Graciela Giunta, features a curatorial team 50% composed of Black curators, including Dorota Biczel, Fabiana Lopes, and Igor Simões. Research by the Coletivo Mulheres Negras nas Artes found only 4 Black women among 154 Brazilian artists across three editions of the São Paulo Biennial. New initiatives like Deri Andrade's Projeto Afro, launched June 21, create digital archives for Black artistic production. The Laboratório de Curadoria de Exposições Bisi Silva, coordinated by Carolina Ruoso, Joana D’Arc de Sousa Lima, and Rita Lages Rodrigues, studies Brazilian curatorial histories without replicating historical exclusions. Indigenous curators Sandra Benites, hired by MASP in 2019, and Naine Terena, curator of the suspended exhibition Véxoa: Nós sabemos, are reshaping institutional practices. Alex Tso founded Diáspora Galeria, dedicated to racialized artists, challenging market exclusion. These efforts respond to critiques by Paulo Herkenhoff and Hélio Menezes, whose 2018 master's thesis analyzed the construction of Afro-Brazilian art. The movement follows global anti-racism protests after George Floyd's murder on May 25, pushing art institutions beyond symbolic support toward structural change.