Produced in partnership by Associação Cultural Videobrasil and Fundação Cultural Palmares, the exhibition explored the role of art in building Afro-descendant identities, considering contemporary aspects. To this end, it featured a selection of artists from Africa and the African diaspora, interweaving gazes from Africa and America.
The catalog features a set of essays that reflect on contextual and aesthetical aspects relating to the subject at hand: researcher Zita C. Nunes investigates the connections between American descendants and their African ancestors; João Carlos Rodrigues reminds us that archetypes and caricatures of the negro still persist in Brazilian cinema and TV, while these populations remain in the economically underprivileged layers; Cheryl Finley addresses tourism by Afro-descendants looking to “return to their roots;” and Antônio Godi reveals the discrepancy between the huge success of music made by Brazilian blacks, and the slow-moving progress in social inclusion of said groups.
The art critic Koyo Kouh retraces the development of photography in African soil; Rod Stoneman gives an overview of African cinema in the 2000s; and Hélio Hara interviews Joel Zito Araújo, director of the film with the largest black cast in Brazilian cinema history.
The publication also features critical reviews on each of the artists in the exhibition, by José Eduardo Agualusa, Ricardo Rosas, Mark Sealy, Salah Hassan and Solange Farkas.
Pan-African Exhibition of Contemporary Art
Authors: Antônio Godi, Cheryl Finley, Hélio Hara, João Carlos Rodrigues, José Eduardo Agualusa, Koyo Kouh, Mark Sealy, Ricardo Rosas, Rod Stoneman, Ricardo Rosas, Salah Hassan, Solange Farkas, Zita C. Nunes. Edições Sesc-SP & Associação Cultural Videobrasil. 2005, 164 pages. Width: 23.8cm, Height: 21.5cm, Spine: 1.6 cm.