In November 2020, Inhotim approached Instituto de Pesquisas e Estudos Afro-Brasileiros-IPEAFRO (Institute for Afro-Brazilian Research and Studies) with the proposal to create an exhibition program based on the work of Nascimento and IPEAFRO’s collection. In a shared curatorial action, an unprecedented model in the history of Inhotim, the two institutions occupy Galeria Mata with the Black Art Museum-an endeavor led by Abdias in the1950s-and the IPEAFRO documentary archive starting in December 2021, the year that marked the tenth anniversary of the loss of this important Brazilian intellectual.

Abdias Nascimento e o Museu de Arte Negra (Abdias Nascimento and the Black Art Museum) unfolds in four acts, through exhibitions and programs that reconfigure themselves in an attempt to showcase the breadth and complexity of Abdias Nascimento’s work. Today, the project Abdias Nascimento and the Black Art Museum reverberates beyond Galeria Mata, expanding into other temporary galleries at the Instituto, its collection and programming, consolidating itself as more than an artistic project, but an ethical program. It thus gains strength and a breadth of action fronts, characteristic of Abdias Nascimento himself. Inhotim extends its gratitude to IPEAFRO for the learning and all the exchanges, and celebrates the legacy of Abdias Nascimento.

Exhibition Acts – Galeria Mata

Primeiro Ato: Abdias Nascimento, Tunga e o Museu de Arte Negra (First Act: Abdias Nascimento, Tunga and the Black Art Museum; 2021)

Segundo Ato: Dramas para negros e prólogo para brancos (Second Act: Dramas for Blacks and Prologue for Whites; 2022)

Terceiro Ato: Sortilégio (Third Act: Sortilege; 2023)

Quarto Ato – O Quilombismo: Documentos de uma Militância Pan-Africanista (Fourth Act – Quilombismo: Documents of a Pan-Africanist Militancy; 2023)

Temporary exhibitions, outdoor artworks and occupations

Arjan Martins, Instalação de Birutas (Windsock Installation; 2021)

Ocupação Biblioteca Inhotim: Jaime Lauriano (Occupation Inhotim Library: Jaime Lauriano; 2022)

O mundo é o teatro do homem (The World is Man’s Theater; 2022)

Quilombo: vida, problemas e aspirações do negro (Quilombo: Life, Problems and Aspirations of Black People; 2022)

Mestre Didi: Os iniciados no mistério não morrem (Mestre Didi: Those initiated in the mystery do not die; 2023)

Mônica Ventura, A noite suspensa ou o que posso aprender com o silêncio (The suspended night or what I can learn from silence; 2023)

Direito à forma (Right to form; 2023)

Fazer o moderno, construir o contemporâneo: Rubem Valentim (Make the modern, build the contemporary: Rubem Valentim; 2023)