BRUMADINHO.- Abdias Nascimento's life-long trajectory (1914–2011) was defined by activism and his fight against racism. In 2021, the year that marks the 10th anniversary of Nascimento's death, as well as Inhotim’s 15th anniversary, in partnership with IPEAFRO, Inhotim presents the project Abdias Nascimento e o Museu de Arte Negra (Abdias Nascimento and the Museum of Black Art), a two-year long proposal that underscores the artists’ continued legacy to Brazilian visual arts and history.

Inhotim will endeavour to house a museum within their museum, by inviting the Museu de Arte Negra (The Museum of Black Art), which was originally founded in the mid-50s, to occupy the Galeria Mata space from December 4, 2021 through to 2023. The idea behind Museu de Arte Negra was originally conceived and developed by Nascimento to promote the multifaceted production of Black art from Brazil and beyond.

Bringing the presence of Nascimento and the issues related to his work and school of thought to light through the housing of a museum within a museum, Inhotim aims to question and put into perspective, the traditional notions of the museum, collections, and the networks of coexistence in which they are embedded.

"Historically Black representation appeared only in the periphery of traditional museum settings, and for the most part was mediated by the white male gaze. It was necessary to break the system and make the richness of Black culture visible to the world especially within the arts", explains Deri Andrade, assistant curator at Inhotim and researcher at the head of Projeto Afro - Afro-Brazilian mapping and diffusion of Black artists.

Elisa Larkin Nascimento, wife of Abdias Nascimento and co-founder of IPEAFRO says “Currently a profusion of national and international artists are a part of the MAN-IPEAFRO collection, contributing to the enrichment of curatorial narratives on Black artistic production.”