African History Comes Alive at the Sao Paulo Museum Afro-Brasil

The Sao Paulo Museum Afro-Brasil is a way for Sao Paulo to celebrate the contributions made to the state, city, and even country of Brazil by Africans and their descendants who originally came to Brazil through the tragedy of enslavement. The museum celebrates their cultural contributions as well as remembers the early hardships these people faced, but the unique thing about this museum is its perpetually upbeat tone. Instead of dwelling on the hardships of the past, the museum celebrates the spirit of the African people and what they have given to the country in both past and present.

What many people don’t realize is that Brazil has the largest black population outside of Africa – which makes a place like the Sao Paulo Museum Afro-Brasil truly at home here. The displays are widely varied, featuring such things as biographies of painters, writers, politicians, or other influential black people who made a difference in the country, and a plethora of their artwork, tools, and other artifacts are displayed here as well. There are over 1,000 items on permanent exhibit, with plenty more coming and going as temporary displays.

The first temporary exhibit opened in 2004, which was actually the inaugural year of the Sao Paulo Museum Afro-Brasil, and this exhibit set the tone for the museum: it actually focused on all the main cultural groups and their contributions to Brazilian history, in the sense of all those who are a part of the mixed ancestral heritage of Brazil.

For visitors who will be in Sao Paulo over a period of time, what better way to learn of Brazil’s diversity than by participating in one of the museum’s workshops or seminars? There are many courses, meetings, seminars, and workshops that are targeted for both the general public or for children, and it is also not unusual for the museum to hold a workshop/lecture series with interactive elements.

Anyone looking to do some research on Afro-Brazilian history will enjoy spending time in the Afro-Brazilian Museum Sao Paulo library, where there are approximately 1500 works – such as journals and documents – to browse through, and around another 5000 publications that range from such things as books to catalogs, calendars, and folklore collections.

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