Dos Brasis: Arte e Pensamento Negro (Black Art, Black Thinking)

“Brasil, meu nego, deixa eu te contar, 
A história que a história não conta, 
O avesso do mesmo lugar 
Na luta é que a gente se encontra” 

“Brazil, my darling, let me tell you 
the stories that History doesn’t tell you 
the same place, inside out  
we find each other at the fight”

—História para Ninar Gente Grande [Bedtime stories for grown ups]. Composers: Domenico, Deivid, et al. Interpreter: Marquinhoo Art’Samba. Rio de Janeiro: Estação Primeira de Mangueira, 2019.

In 2019, samba school Estação Primeira de Mangueira presented the song “História pra ninar gente grande” [Bedtime stories for grown ups] at the Rio de Janeiro Carnival parade. The samba aimed to narrate the “absent pages” of the history of Brazil and rethink the official narratives that were taught over generations. In the parade, the public saw the stories of black  protagonists pass by, in a samba that sang the country, recognized the plurality that composes it and denounced the false idea of national unification and the problems of hegemonic history. 

Now, in 2023, black thinking in Brazilian visual arts is at the spotlight, in different times and places. This is one of the guidelines of the curatorial process of the exhibition Dos Brasis—Arte e Pensamento Negro [Dos Brasis—Black Art, Black Thinking], the widest exhibition exclusively dedicated to production of black artists ever held in Brazil, with its premiere in August 2023 at Sesc Belezinho, in São Paulo. As of 2024, part of the exhibition will begin a journey through different Sesc’s spaces all over the country, during the next ten years.

Curated by Igor Simões, in partnership with Lorraine Mendes and Marcelo Campos, Dos Brasis—Arte e Pensamento Negro exhibits the works of circa 240 black artists—amongst men and women both cis and transgender, from all Brazilian states—and includes a range of languages such as painting, photography, sculpture, installations and video installations, produced between the end of the 18th century up until recent times.

Trajectory: Conceived in 2018, the project comes from an institutional desire of the National Department of Sesc of learning, knowing and expanding the visibility of the art produced by black peoples in Brazil. 

In order to get to this expressive and representative number of black artists, present throughout the national territory, two important lines of work were created. At first, in loco surveys were carried out in every Brazilian state, along with Sesc’s presence, as to publicize different national voices in art produced by black people. This stage was made reality in the form of activities and programs such as lectures, portfolio readings, exhibitions and others, with a local focus. It is worth mentioning that this process was specifically focused on not limiting itself to the country’s capitals, but also encompassed the artistic production of black people in a wide range of locations, such as inland cities and in traditional resistance communities, known as quilombos.

The curatorial team researched works and documents in ateliers, portfolios and both public and private collections, as to offer the public the opportunity to learn about the history of art produced by the black population of Brazil and to understand the centrality of black thinking in Brazilian art.

The second front was the implementation of an online artistic residency program entitled “Pemba: Black Residence”, which had more than 450 applications and selected 150 residents. From May to August 2022, the participants were guided by Ariana Nuala, Juliana dos Santos, Rafael Bqueer, Renata Sampaio and Yhuri Cruz. The residency, which brought together artists, educators and curators/critics, also featured a series of public classes with the participation of Denise Ferreira da Silva, Kleber Amâncio, Renata Bittencourt, Renata Sampaio, Rosana Paulino and Rosane Borges. These classes were recorded and made available to the public on Sesc Brazil’s channel on YouTube.

Cores: The curatorial proposal breaks with divisions such as chronology, style or language. For this exhibition of black art, formal, stylistic or aesthetic junction do not fit. In this way, the exhibition spaces of Sesc Belenzinho are organized in seven cores: Romper [Rupture], Branco Tema [White as a Theme], Negro Vida [Black Life], Amefricanas, Organização Já [Organization Now], Legítima Defesa [Self Defense] and Baobá, which have as reference the thoughts of important black intellectuals in the history of Brazil, such as Beatriz Nascimento, Emanoel Araújo, Guerreiro Ramos, Lélia Gonzales and Luiz Gama.

“Dos Brasis, as an exhibition project, intends to be a historical exhibition, but it does not presume to exhaust the debate based on the selection of some artistic figures, thus escaping the colonialist gesture of mapping. In addition, what we propose are various forms of access to writings that put us at stake, rewrite and even invalidate our premises, in order to conceive a choir that is not only woven in harmony, but also in conflict and disagreement. We aim at escaping the idea of essentialized uniformity, often evoked to once again take from us our right to humanity, also expressed in the right to contradiction”, emphasizes the trio of curators. 

More information about the curatorship, the project and the participating artists can be found on the website.