Afro-Atlantic Histories & Contemporary Contexts

The seminal exhibition Afro-Atlantic Histories opened in São Paulo, Brazil in 2018 at MASP. The significance of this show is best described by critic Holland Cotter, who in his New York Times review of the show wrote, “the story of the westward African diaspora has been told many times, but never, in my experience, with this breadth or geographic balance (2018).” The exhibition’s opening, taking place in Brazil, contextualizes the colossal role Brazil played in the Atlantic slave trade. Brazil accounts for nearly 50% of the slave trade that came from Africa, and as noted by Cotter’s review, “today it is home to the world’s largest black population outside of Nigeria.” The show falls directly beside the 130th anniversary of Brazil’s Golden Law, which effectively abolished slavery in the country–making it one of the last to do so.

Covering the history of Afro-descended art for over 300 years required great efforts between several curators, institutions, and interdisciplinary experts. The show accurately depicts the success and scope of their curatorial efforts by rejecting any claims that Afro-Atlantic Histories is in any way comprehensive. According to a review from Contemporary And, Afro-Atlantic Histories accomplished this “by pluralizing the term history suggested a desire to escape the dangers of a single story (Araujo Bispo, 2018).” Despite this, the show’s lack of female representation bears noting. “Only a small group of Black Brazilian contemporary women artists were represented,” writes critic Alexandre Araujo Bispo (2018). Afro-Atlantic Histories’ demographical failing validates an unfortunate trend of revisionist curatorial efforts in underrepresenting female and non-male artists. This prevailing shortcoming within the arts field highlights the urgency for intersectionality in curation. Regardless of its drawbacks, the magnitude of Afro-Atlantic Histories' legacy in propelling African representation into the historical and contemporary mainstream is particularly exemplified in the exhibition’s Portraits section. By portraying rarely seen depictions of African people, Afro-Atlantic Histories pave new paradigms that challenge eurocentric archetypes of race, history, and class.

Works Cited

Araujo Bispo, A. (2018). Afro-Atlantic histories: Pluralizing narratives. C&, 24. https://contemporaryand.com/magazines/pluralizing-narratives/

Cotter, H. (2018). Brazil enthralls with an art show of Afro-Atlantic history. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/12/arts/design/afro-atlantic-histories-sao-paulo-museum-of-art-tomie-ohtake-institute.html