“It is not easy to be an artist, let alone a Black one.”

Spoken during an interview to the project AfroTranscendence in 2016, these words from artist Sidney Amaral (São Paulo, SP, 1973-2017) have stayed with me. Since 2017, the year in which I enrolled at the Universidade de São Paulo’s Culture, Education, Race, And Ethnics Specialization Program at the CELACC center, I have dedicated part of my time to researching and investigating the artistic creation of Afro Brazilian artists. The result has been the mapping of a diverse contingent of work. As I progressed in my research and immersed myself in the investigation of catalogues from anthological exhibitions, it helped me define Afro Brazilian Art as a dynamic concept. In order to understand it, I have also dug deep into books, essays, academic dissertations, free courses, and conversations with artists and Black thinkers.

Deri Andrade. Photo by: Personal Archive

The research for Project Afro has been conducted as part of my studies at the Universidade de São Paulo’s Specialization Program. It was my hands which penned the work, but many brains informed what I was doing. The choice for publishing multiple essays and interviews with different agents from the Art world reflect my wishes for the project’s next step: to be more of a collective enterprise. It has been an intense, systematic, and methodological task getting to know these works and life stories. Project Afro, however, has both predated and transcended my studies at the Universidade de São Paulo’s Specialization Program.

My time at the Specialization Program represented Step One of an ongoing process. My initial immersion into the topic did not answer all of my questions. Following my graduation from the program in 2019, I launched an open call through Project Afro’s social media channels for artist’s portfolios, material which I view as a tool to access a narrative that is currently under construction. As I analyzed 157 files submitted as part of the open call, I came to the realization that the project’s original concept became insufficient to achieve the project’s very goals.

A hard definition of mapping means to represent as on a map. However, how can one map Black artists from a territory such as Brazil? How should one investigate an artistic production that cuts through the cartographic lines running through the country? In my understanding, transversal connections, dislodging, and dispersion are pieces of an expanded historical process marked by forces and tensions. Therefore, I identify a movement, a constant transit toward reaffirming one’s own singularity.

That is how I have come to conceive a different meaning for mapping. Project Afro transcends territorial lines. Its goal is to cover the artistic creations from Black Brazilians through an investigation of the contingent’s features, as well as the questions these work ask. It also takes into consideration the themes and discourses – some of which have social and political undertones – articulated by a plural, diverse, and complex artistic production.

Jaime Lauriano (São Paulo, SP, 1985). Brasil: invasão, etnocídio, democracia racial e apropriação cultural [Brazil: Invasion, Cultural Massacre, Racial Democracy, and Cultural Appropriation], 2016. Drawing with white pemba, a type of chalk used in rituals from Umbanda, an Afro Brazilian religion, and dermatographic pencil on black cotton. 119 x 156 cm. Photo by Filipe Berndt/Reproduction from the Artist’s Website

And yet, interrogations surrounded my inquisitive spirit. Why must one map Black artists? Project Afro was not the first initiative of its kind. In 2017, MUNA – Mulheres Negras nas Artes (Black Women in the Arts) conducted a survey of Black artists featured in five major art galleries from the Southeastern region, the country’s economic hub. Only 56 of the 160 artists represented by these institutions were women. Even worse, only one Black woman had been identified by the survey. MUNA had been preceded by A Presença Negra (Black Presence), a 2015 initiative conducted by artists Moisés Patrício and Peter de Brito. A self-proclaimed “joyful and peaceful action”, the performance subverted stereotypes while occupying the frigid, pale spaces from galleries and museums in São Paulo with Black bodies present at vernissages and exhibitions.

Black thinkers were centered as both the target audience and organizers as events, panels, and roundtables pushed toward breaking racial barriers. These conversations revolved around racism, homophobia, gender, and issues concerning Afro Brazilian art. I have named only a few, but there has been intense activity in different parts of the country for the last five years. It coincides with Djamila Ribeiro’s seminal concept of “speaking place”.

Cultural institutions have also become aware of the change and began developing a gradual agenda of propositions that have been defined by scholar Alecsandra M. de Oliveira as a “Black wave”. Some museums opened exhibitions featuring Black art, perhaps motivated by the necessity of cultural legitimacy. These shows have been featured in newspaper stories, on websites, and social media channels, ultimately garnering international awards and praise from the critics. Highlighted below are a few exhibitions that took place in São Paulo.

Hosted at the Pinacoteca de São Paulo, the exhibition “Territórios: Artistas Afrodescendentes no Acervo da Pinacoteca” (Territories: Afro-descendant Artists in the Pinacoteca Collection) opened on December 2015. It revisited the institution’s collection, presenting the works in sections under themes ranging from European Origins to the contemporary. Tadeu Chiarelli, Pinacoteca’s then director, served as the curator. The exhibition also made room for a seminar co-sponsored by the Pinacoteca and the Black publication O Menelick 2º Ato, featuring artists and researchers gathered around issues mobilized by the show.

View of the exhibition “Territórios: Artistas Afrodescendentes no Acervo da Pinacoteca” (Territories: Afro-descendant Artists in the Pinacoteca Collection, 2015-2016), Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Photo by Isabella Matheus

In the summer of 2017, the Galpão Videobrasil opened “Agora somos todos negrxs?” (Have We Now All Become Black?), a slice of “contemporary art made from a Black perspective that challenges notions of decolonization in the Americas”, according to curator, artist, and researcher Daniel Lima. The show drew inspiration from the Haitian Revolution, a Black-led uprising that resulted in Haiti’s independence and inspired multiple episodes of Black resistance against colonial powers. “Agora somos todos negrxs?” invited a critical interrogation of the sudden engagement of cultural institutions with the so-called “pressing issues”, since it did not lead to dismantling the racist structure upon which they were built.

The following year, the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) and the Instituto Tomie Ohtake welcomed, respectively, 180,000 and 138,000 visitors that attended the “Histórias afro-atlânticas” (Afro Atlantic Histories) exhibition. Co-hosted by both institutions and curated by Adriano Pedrosa, Ayrson Heráclito, Hélio Menezes, Lilia Moritz Schwarcz, and Tomás Toledo, it displayed 400 works from more than 200 artists, both Black and white.

The absence of works from Black artists in the collections of major Brazilian museums has been highlighted by artist and Professor Rommulo Vieira Conceição. In a recent article published in the Rio Grande do Sul Federal University’s journal, he postulates that, in the state of São Paulo, the Pinacoteca “has the largest number of Afro Brazilian artists in its collection”, behind the Museu Afro Brasil, whose very mission is dedicated to Afro Brazilian Art. I must highlight an important fact: once the “Histórias afro-atlânticas” finished its run, MASP acquired 20 artworks from 18 Black artists, and displayed them as part of its permanent collection.

Shifting the attention from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro, the Museu de Arte do Rio took a stance and put forward a series of exhibitions featuring a large number of Black artists. In 2019, the museum hosted the collective show “O Rio dos Navegantes” (The Rio of Navigators), as well as “Pardo é Papel” (Don’t Call Me Brown, in a free translation), an individual exhibit showcasing the artistry of Maxwell Alexandre. This year, the Museu de Arte do Rio also organized “Rua!” (The Streets), a collective show featuring Black artists, and “UóHol”, an individual exhibit of Rafa B. Queer’s works. Visual artist Aline Motta is also set to have her own exhibition – “Aline Motta: memória, viagem e água” (Memory, Travel And Water) – to open at the museum.

Still in Rio de Janeiro, but at the other side of the bay, the Museu de Arte Contemporânea at Niterói opened in 2019 “Abdias do Nascimento – Espírito Libertador” (A Liberating Spirit), in partnership with the Instituto de Pesquisas e Estudos Afro-Brasileiros, Ipeafro (Afro-Brazilian Institute for Research and Studies). It was the first time that a museum organized a show dedicated to the Pan-Africanist visual artist, dramaturg, and activist.

The work to dismantle Western narratives represents a step even more critical than displaying or incorporating these works into a museum’s collection, argues writer and curator Fabiana Lopes. In an essay published at the catalogue accompanying the “Territórios”’ exhibition, Lopes points to what a shift of perception would truly mean. According to her, change will only be brought about when we are finally able to see the counter-narratives promoted by such artistic creations through the analysis of the complex structures upon which they are located. These structures thwart the subjectivities of these knowledgeable cultural producers.

When looking at recent years, one is left with a poignant question: Have museums reshaped their institutional syntaxes, realizing at last that the so-called “racial democracy” is nothing but a deception? I argue that true change lies in the work of independent initiatives pushing for the decolonization of the gaze. They have preceded and surpassed gestures from major museums. Endeavors such as O Menelick 2º Ato, AfroTranscendence, MUNA, Projeto Dudus, segundaPRETA, Nacional Trovoa, to name a few. They paved the way to Project Afro, as well as to many more actions yet to come.

Cover of the publication O Menelick 2º Ato. Reproduction

The mapping conducted by Project Afro has the goal of raising awareness and creating a conversation about an artistic production that traverses Brazil’s history and artistic movements, following its change. As a form of commitment to decenter Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo as the main hubs, our database lists 135 artists who were either born or based at the following states: Alagoas (AL), Amapá (AP), Amazonas (AM), Bahia (BA), Ceará (CE), Distrito Federal (DF), Espírito Santo (ES), Goiás (GO), Maranhão (MA), Mato Grosso (MT), Minas Gerais (MG), Pará (PA), Paraíba (PB), Paraná (PR), Pernambuco (PE), Piauí (PI), Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Rio Grande do Norte (RN), Rio Grande do Sul (RS), Santa Catarina (SC), São Paulo (SP), and Sergipe (SE). By no means does the lack of artists from Acre (AC), Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), Rondônia (RO), Roraima (RR), and Tocantins (TO) attest to the nonexistence of Black artists in these territories. It rather illustrates the ongoing nature of our project.

This platform features paintings, watercolors, collages, drawings, sculptures, photographs, graffiti, engravings, illustrations, installations, objects, performances, videos, video-performances, and wood engraving. They all answer questions related to art form. The works presented in our database have been organized under these categories, as well as decade of birth, spanning from 1730 through the 1990s.

As I look at the contingent of artists identified by this mapping, I come to the realization of how monumental is the task I have taken upon myself to execute. The artistic production displayed at Project Afro is diverse and heterogeneous. Therefore, a project such as ours cannot provide all the answers to the intricacies of Black-created Art. These artists are autonomous subjects who have agency over their social surroundings, and their works have made it possible to expand the repertoire of conversation.

Project Afro has strived to organize a large set of information as a way to offer more tools for continuity. It has brought me pleasure, despite the harrowing work. For over a year I have worked to develop Project Afro as a platform for exchange and discovery, as well as to incentivize reshaping certain symbols, norms, and perspectives. Its goal is to serve as a tool to foster a different type of conversation and to put into perspective this emerging “Black wave”.

The Art world has mistakenly categorized and systematized Black-created Art, attaching to it limiting tags such as unsophisticated or primitive. Our platform does not wish to repeat the same errors, but rather foster a collective space for experimentation. The way I understand it, mapping entails erecting an “organogram”, systematizing ideas and thoughts, making room for crossed paths of knowledge that provide us all with a hybrid reference repository for research.

The path I have walked would have not been the same if it were not for people who have directly or indirectly influenced me. The likes of: Jordana Leite, Vinicius Salomoni, Tulio Costa, Derivalda Andrade, Leonardo Fabri, Alex Tso, Olivia Bonan, Monique Cerchiari, Juliana Andrade, Lucas Barros, Roderico Souza, Paula Tinoco, Hélio Menezes, Alecsandra Matias de Oliveira, Yhuri Cruz, Ana Rosa da Silva, Derivaldo Andrade, Carollina Lauriano, Tiago Gualberto, Raylander Mártis dos Anjos, Claudinei Roberto da Silva, Luciara Ribeiro, João Turchi, Eduardo Biz, Dilma Melo e Silva, Leandro Muniz, Juliana dos Santos, Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro, and Rodrigo Gonçalves (Gilbef).

As I near the end of this introductory and think piece, the words of anthropologist Kabengele Munanga, a person who has been the principal reference both for myself and for Project Afro, come to mind. In his seminal essay “Arte afro-brasileira: o que é, afinal?” (What Is Afro Brazilian Art After All?, 2000), Munanga investigates the attributes of such artistic production, highlighting its forms, styles, colors, symbolisms, themes, sources of inspiration, and iconographies. In his view, all these elements are “harmoniously articulated through a masterful control over a technique capable of giving form and existence to an authentic work of art.”

It is an uphill battle to be a Black artist in a country that has lacked, during the current government, qualified leadership occupying top roles in both Culture and Education Ministries. In face of such a reality, how can one not employ efforts to dismantle structural racism? Project Afro aims to join the voices historically oppressed and silenced, but who now have reclaimed their rightful place. It is part of a struggle against the epistemological obliteration sponsored by whiteness and a tool to expand paths toward building new references.

I invite all the visitors to browse the pages and become familiar with Black-created Art. Read the texts and interviews, dive into Black scholarly production, and join the events announced in the platform. Step Three of Project Afro involves visitations to the artists’ ateliers in the city of São Paulo, though the plan has been put on hold due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Additional portfolios have been submitted to us, but we were unable to analyze them before the launching of the platform. Rest assured: this is an ongoing research.