Institute of Contemporary Art Miami ICA Miami

Afro-Atlantic Biographies and Geographies: The Movement of Return to África by Former Enslaved People from Brazil in the Nineteenth Century

The Malê Revolt of 1835, in the city of Salvador (Bahia, Brazil), mobilised both slaves and freed Africans. After its repression, local authorities launched a strong campaign of persecution against freed Africans, particularly those affiliated to Islam. As a reaction, many of them and their descendants initiated a movement of return to West Africa where they settled and established new families which preserve their Portuguese patronymics up to today. This talk will present a series of biographic sketches of some of these Afro-Brazilian returnees and examine the various motivations that fueled their exodus and the cultural, religious and identity dynamics involved in it.