Museu Paulista Delays Distribution of Critical Comic Book on Brazilian Independence

The Museu Paulista postponed distributing the comic book 'Contra tempo – uma viagem de duzentos anos,' which offers a dystopian critique of Brazil's current reality and questions official historical narratives around the bicentennial of independence. The museum's council requested distribution occur within an educational context with mediators, citing the work's direct language and dark imagery referencing renamed streets honoring torturers, gun propaganda, and neopentecostal churches in peripheries. Conceived in 2020 by the nonprofit journalism institute Ciência na Rua, aimed at public school students, the comic has a collective authorship by Ana Cardoso, Hyna Crimson, Igor Marques, and João Paulo Pimenta. It emphasizes independence as a 'historical process without heroes' driven by anonymous Brazilians. The digital version remains available, with printed launches planned, including one at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro on the 21st. The museum denies a veto, framing it as a postponement linked to a planned dissemination strategy.