The revision of the Portuguese legacy has never been as important as it is now, in an era where skewed nostalgias have been infecting the political arena. One speaks of a frequently hidden, romanticized, full of ifs and buts legacy which overlooks the violence, the racism and the ignorance attached to the Portuguese colonialization, in particular, and colonialism, in general. Between the self-aggrandizement and the sometimes false, amicable diplomacy, the discussion on Portuguese colonialism lacks a critical revision and a broad study within the societies it touched. Before this, on the other side of the ocean, in Brazil, MC Carol triggers the discussion and scratches the wound with her funk: “Professora, me desculpe | Mas eu vou falar | Esse ano na escola | As coisas vão mudar | Nada contra ti | Não me leve a mal | Quem descobriu o Brasil | Não foi Cabral.” [“Teacher, I’m sorry | But I will talk | This year at school | Things will change | Nothing against you | Don’t get me wrong | Who discovered Brazil | It wasn’t Cabral.”]

In this context, It was not Cabral: reviewing silences and omissions, a programme developed by the School of Arts of the Catholic University of Porto and curated by Nuno Crespo and Lilia Schwarcz, constitutes a fundamental opportunity to debate history and its ideological mechanism, inviting artists, directors, activists and thinkers into the discussion.

Lilia Schwarcz, Denilson Baniwa, Pedro Barateiro, Nuno Crespo e Dalton Paula, João Salaviza e Renée Messora, Paulo Catrica, Hélio Menezes, Ayrson Heráclito, Margarida Cardoso, Artur Santoro, Flávio Cerqueira and Francisco Vidal are the invited speakers. Carla Filipe, Pedro Barateiro and Letícia Ramos will be present with exhibitions. 

From February 16 to May 26, It was not Cabral: reviewing silences and omissions at the School of Arts of the Catholic University of Porto, in partnership with the University of São Paulo (Brazil) and the University of Princeton (USA). Carla Filipe’s exhibition will open on February 16 and runs until March 15, and a new exhibition will open soon after. Full programme here.