{"id":25489,"date":"2015-11-25T08:00:43","date_gmt":"2015-11-25T11:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=25489"},"modified":"2015-12-14T10:54:40","modified_gmt":"2015-12-14T13:54:40","slug":"studio-x-rio-event-explores-todays-quilombos-and-presents-tomorrows-african-heritage-circuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=25489","title":{"rendered":"Studio-X Rio Event Explores Today’s Quilombos and Presents Tomorrow’s African Heritage Circuit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas\"\"<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Last Thursday, November 19, Columbia University’s Studio-X Rio hosted Quilombo of the Present \/ Quilombo of the Future<\/a>, an event\u00a0exploring the significance of quilombos<\/a> today. Held on the eve of Brazil’s Black Awareness Day<\/a>, the event\u00a0brought together researchers and practitioners in the areas of history, art, architecture and urbanism to share insights into the spatial and symbolic significance of quilombos in 21st century Brazil.<\/p>\n

Originally, quilombos were\u00a0Afro-Brazilian communities\u00a0established by escaped slaves as a form of active resistance<\/a> and survival in the midst of Brazil’s brutal and long<\/a> era of slavery<\/a>.\u00a0The Studio-X event description reads: “The quilombo is both myth and reality in Brazilian society. Since the 1988 Constitution<\/a>, it exists as a territory recognized by the government, but since the emergence of the black movement it is also a symbol of\u00a0Afro-Brazilian culture<\/a>. On this eve of\u00a0Zumbi Day<\/a>, Studio-X takes asks what does quilombo<\/em> mean today, both as a physical and symbolic territory in the rural and urban landscape–across the state of Rio de Janeiro to the city center.”<\/p>\n

The event was divided in two parts: the first panel discussed the practice of historians who work directly with quilombo communities to document cultural practices and gender relations; the second panel explored the current urban project and African Heritage Circuit<\/a> in the Port Region<\/a> of Rio de Janeiro, a site of major significance in Afro-Brazilian history.<\/p>\n

\"Left<\/a><\/p>\n

Quilombo of the Present \/ Quilombo of the Future<\/h3>\n

The first presentation by historian Maril\u00e9a de Almeida<\/a> explored the experience of quilombola<\/em> women. In her research Almeida has interviewed women leaders at the quilombo communities of Santana<\/a> and S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9 da Serra<\/a> in the south of Rio de Janeiro state, to “make visible the multiple experiences of these black quilombola women in negotiating, translating and problematizing the discussions of their bodies.” Almeida cited that there are officially around 2,400 communities registered as “quilombo remainders” in Brazil, of which only 216 have definitive titles for the land<\/a> they occupy. She estimated that including communities not officially recognized, the number of quilombos in Brazil could be as high as 5,000.<\/p>\n

Maril\u00e9a de Almeida discussed the process of “becoming quilombola<\/em>” and the path\u00a0of pride that women in these communities traverse in negotiating their subjectivity and power. She highlighted, however, that the history of black resistance is dominated by hero figures such as Zumbi de Palmeres<\/a> which\u00a0root black identity in the masculine, heterosexual experience and that dominant narratives dehumanize black women.<\/p>\n

The presentation went on to explore the various significances of the cultural practice of jongo<\/a>, a dance and musical genre originating in quilombo communities, and how these relate to experience, resistance, the body and the process of “becoming quilombola<\/em>“:<\/p>\n

“For some, jongo is a political act; for others there is a religious meaning. Some don’t want to be imprisoned by meanings from the past, others transform them into a spectacle or a practice just for fun. Knowing this highlights that cultural practices and their meanings are constructed by those that practice them through feelings that are always temporary and situational. The incorporation of this knowledge into the historiographic narrative dislocates the focus from the death of a stereotype to the life that pulses in bodies in a way that is subtle, temporary and contingent.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Historian Hebe Mattos<\/a> gave a presentation on “Past Presents – The Memory of Slavery in Brazil<\/a>,” a project that aims to recognize quilombo histories and stimulate a tourism<\/a> of memory in Rio de Janeiro state.<\/p>\n