Black Freedom Memorial will have new company – 05/08/2023 – Guia Negro

The neighborhood of Liberdade, in São Paulo, carries an important past for the history of black people in the city. This was the first home of many enslaved and freed people, and also the places of torture (pelourinho) and hanging (yes, Brazil had the death penalty and public execution of blacks and indigenous people). It was there that the Cemetery of the Afflicted (1775 to 1858) was also located, dedicated to blacks and indigenous people.

These stories were systematically erased and transformed the old black neighborhood into Japanese in the 20th century. But this narrative has come to the fore and been demanded by social movements. In 2018, nine bones were found in a work next to the Capela dos Aflitos, the only visible mark of the cemetery today and which is located on Rua dos Aflitos. The building where the skeletons were was a shopping center under construction belonging to a Chinese businessman and which was paralyzed. The place was expropriated and popular movements began to demand the Memorial of the Afflicted.

The years passed and in 2023, finally, an edict predicted the construction of the memorial that will (re)count the black and indigenous presence in the neighborhood. But not everything went as expected. The company that won the event, the São Paulo Architecture Office, did not limit itself to the memorial project and foresaw the destruction of part of the Chapel: its wake and the shop. The issue is that the building is listed and has an independent structure from the future memorial.

There began the questioning of the company’s ability to manage the work. At a meeting on May 24, 2023 in the Chapel of the Afflicted, tension increased. The architects representing the office showed ignorance of the cause and had statements classified as racist by the movement. The Municipal Secretary of Culture, Aline Torres, was offended by the non-acceptance of civil society in relation to the project and said that if the notice did not go ahead, she would need to spend the R$ 4 million released in another way.

It was enough for the movements to start questioning the announcement, asking for the participation of more black people, more time, in addition to guaranteeing a minimum structure for holding events in the future space, such as an amphitheater, technical reserve, bathrooms, pantry and locker room. There was also questioning the use of sand from the land, considered sacred for being part of a cemetery, to concrete the walls.

“This is a memorial made by the people and for the people. We don’t want it to be just a little square with a cross. It needs to serve our people, have events, educational and cultural activities”, highlights Eliz Alves, coordinator of the União dos Amigos da Capela dos Aflitos (Unamca), remembering that the project is doing a disservice and asking for the call for a new public notice, which has the participation of black and indigenous architects.

Abilio Ferreira, general coordinator of the Tebas Institute, recalls that the announcement did not give black people the opportunity to formulate projects to compete. “It favored the concentration of opportunities, as has always happened in society”, he stresses. He also recalls that the Municipal Secretariat of Culture closed the dialogue after demonstrating dissatisfaction with the project.

The work on the Memorial still does not guarantee another request from the movement: the closing of Rua dos Aflitos, transforming it into a boardwalk and no longer receiving trucks that load and unload goods, in addition to the removal of Japanese lamps that do not reflect the history of the black people of the place. . The street was included in the “Open Streets” project, which foresees its closure to cars and opening as a leisure space on Sundays, as is already the case in other regions of São Paulo.

Withdrawal

As I researched this text over the last three days, the situation changed. While the Municipal Secretariat of Culture informed, by means of a note, that the winning project for the Memorial dos Aflitos had already undergone adaptations, that it complied with the requests listed and that it was ratified, the São Paulo Architecture Office informed firsthand the Black Guide who withdrew the proposal.

According to the director of the Paulistano Architectural Office, Eduardo Colonelli, the work is important for the entire city and an achievement of the social movement and could not be done without its consent. He recognizes that some interventions foreseen in the project were inappropriate, such as the partial demolition of the chapel, and that the office was willing to make the requested adjustments, but that the impossibility of understanding with the movements led to the withdrawal. “We realized that the process was not mature enough and we learned from that to review our procedures, project design and even team formation”, he guarantees.

Before withdrawing from the office, SMC sent a note informing that the municipal administration had listened and dialogued with the movements, understanding the importance of the Memorial for civil society and making the necessary changes. “The SMC cannot interfere in the composition of the winning office, but it can guarantee that the memorial’s program and the exhibition material will be built based on dialogue with civil society”, he informs.

With the withdrawal of the Paulistano Architecture Office, SMC did not respond until the closing of this article if there will be a new public notice or if the second and third places of the old contest will be summoned. A lesson remains from this entire process: it is not possible to tell black history without black people at every stage.

May the Memorial of the Afflicted, scheduled to be inaugurated in 2024, have more funds, more attention from the public authorities and can, finally, tell the story of the black and indigenous peoples of the Liberdade neighborhood. This fight belongs to all of us!

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