The Minister of Human Rights and Citizenship, Silvio Almeida, signed this Monday (20th), in Rio de Janeiro, a research agreement on sacred objects of religions of African origin. The objective is to better understand the collection, which has 519 objects seized, such as clothes, hats and drums, by the state police between 1890 and 1946, and expand the collection with the recovery of other artifacts. The agreement provides for an exchange of knowledge and technical-scientific practices between the Federal Public Defender’s Office and the Museum of the Republic, which will analyze more than 300 police inquiries from the period. “Police raids often took place during religious ceremonies. Even after the priests and priestesses were released, the sacred objects remained imprisoned as documentary evidence of a crime. What crime did the people of axé commit? Is it a crime to worship the orixás? Of course not, but for worshiping the sacred, the people of saints were persecuted”, said the director of the Museum of the Republic, Mário Chagas. “The sacred objects that were kept as evidence of a crime that did not exist, today bear witness to the crime, this concrete yes, committed by the State against Afro-Brazilian religions”, he added. For Minister Silvio Almeida, the agreement helps to deepen the process of historical reparation to Candomblecists and Umbandists. “Talking about the persecution of religions of African origin, in fact, it’s us talking about racism. In what is classified as religious racism. This systematic discrimination against people who are of African religions is because they are related to what it means to be black in Brazil. It is a persecution articulated by legal and political institutions”, said the minister. “It is very important for us to know this dimension of memory, truth and justice as a starting point for us to change Brazilian society”, he highlighted. Collection Em 1938 , the then National Artistic Heritage Service (SPHAN) set aside part of this collection, called the “Black Magic Museum Collection”. The objects were under the responsibility of the Civil Police Museum of Rio de Janeiro. For decades, the community asked that the pieces were transferred to another space, which escaped the logic of criminalization. An official campaign was created in 2017, led by Mãe Meninazinha de Oxum and one of the main references of candomblé, called Liberte Nosso Sagrado, and had the support of different civil society. The matter reached the Public Ministry and the Legislative Assembly of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Alerj). After a series of debates, a term was signed of transfer and the collection was taken to the Museum of the Republic, where it has been since September 21, 2020. New name The regional superintendent of Iphan in Rio, Paulo Vidal, informed that an ordinance will be published this Tuesday (21) to officially change the name of the collection, which in the ethnographic tomb book still appears as “Black Magic”, and will now be officially recognized as “Our Sacred”. For those who fought so long to protect and repatriate the artifacts, the event brought important victories. “We are very happy that our work has been recognized. Of Our Sacred being recognized as sacred. It is the first step of many other things. The path is very long, but we will get there with the blessing of the orixás”, celebrated Mãe Meninazinha de Oxum. Terreiro Fashion Catalog Minister Silvio de Almeida also participated in the launch of the printed catalog “Terreiro Fashion” at the Museum of the Republic. The project is coordinated by Mãe Meninazinha de Oxum, at Ilê Omolu Oxum, in São João de Meriti, in the metropolitan region of Rio. The 40-page publication brings together sacred garments, which were made by women from Ateliê Obirim Odara, from Ilê Omolu Oxum, coordinated by Mãe Nilce de Iansã. The catalog is sponsored by the Social Investment Fund (ELAS) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA Brazil). The clothes are part of a tradition in Bahia, brought by Iyá Davina (1880-1964), mother of saint and maternal grandmother of Mãe Meninazinha de Oxum, matriarch of Ilê Omolu Oxum. Ateliê Obirim Odara emerged from the program to combat misogyny and domestic violence, at Ilê Omolu Oxum, which welcomes women victims of these crimes.
Agência Brasil
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