THURSDAY 26th MAY 7 PM to 8.30 PM

Location: King's College London, King's Building, ROOM K3.11. 

King’s College London Brazil Institute in collaboration with Cimarron Festival present: 

PERSPECTIVES ON AFRO-BRAZILIAN CULTURE TODAY   

Seminar Host: Anna Grimaldi (Brazil Institute, King’s College) This event brings together four researchers from across the UK and Brazil to discuss different aspects of Afro-Brazilian culture today, including political activism, feminism, capoeira, music, and dance. After a roundtable discussion, the session will open to questions and invite participation from the audience. 

Photo credit: By Agência Brasil - https://www.flickr.com/photos/129729681@N06/35465233613/, 

CC BY 2.0,

 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61526800 

Gina Robinson 

Warrior women in capoeira: reflections on Maria as metaphor  

This presentation discusses communities of African slaves in colonial Brazil. Until the mid-twentieth century, capoeira was criminialised and marginalised as a Black art of resistance in Brazil; today it has evolved into a popular phenomenon that is practised by men and women worldwide. 

This research investigates the growing participation and empowerment of women in capoeira and the absence of their voices and narratives in this historically male-dominated practice. Maria do Camboatá presents an interesting case study of one female figure whose story has been lost and silenced over time. She has come to represent the collective struggle of women both in capoeira, and in the society in which it is played.

Rose Barboza & and Gersiney Santos 

Aquilombar, Intransitive Verb: Dialogued Experiments between Clovis Moura and Beatriz Nascimento 

This presentation explores the concepts of quilombagem and quilombo in the context of Brazil. Quilombagem, as elaborated by Clóvis Moura, is an expression of radical black protest, while quilombo, as defended by Beatriz Nascimento, in the context of Aquilombagem Crítica (AC), is a vigorous instrument in the process of recognizing black Brazilian identity for greater ethnic and national self-assertion. 

We argue that, even from seemingly different perspectives and theoretical frameworks, both intellectual figures identify a non-negotiable process of transformation of material and symbolic conditions that allow for the reclaiming of black narratives in a strategic and transformational way. 

As part of the presentation, we introduce a variety of ways in which 'quilombo' has been defined by artists across Brazil, be that in music, literature, or cinema. We also present a clip from Beatriz Nascimento's documentary, Orí (1989), that talks about her trip to "Serra da Barriga", where the famous Quilombo dos Palmares is.

Katucha Bento  

Existence and Healing in Brazilian rural community: Weaving solidarity during the pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic left many rural communities at great risk due to the lack of food access, information, and healthcare in Brazil. Rural communities are suffering from high prices of agro-ecological materials (seeds, tools and machinery) to grow their food or the inaccessible costs of basic food.  

My presentation will discuss how the quilombo community Ylê Asé de Yansã, situated in Araras (Brazil), has deployed decolonial dialogues and praxis to address hunger issues and knowledge exchange about land rights, food sovereignty and healing teachings. During eight months, the community worked on restoring the food-growing community garden and sharing knowledge with local and global organisations about possible paths to achieve agro-ecological solutions for food sovereignty.  

Additionally, growing food and disseminating related knowledge is part of sustainable strategies of healing, i.e., recovering from the trauma of experiencing not only hunger but also racism and land expropriation that rural communities like Ylê Asé de Yansã are facing now in Brazil. In this sense, Ylê Asé de Yansã facilitated the dialogue between local communities, building and strengthening solidarity among them through the exchange of knowledge about autonomous sustenance, agro-ecology and healing practices.  

Seminar Host: Anna Grimaldi (Brazil Institute, King's College)