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Unprecedented exhibition set up at Muhcab presents 180 archaeological finds from works in the Port of Rio
Published on 30/11/2022 - 07:00 | Updated on 01/12/2022 - 14:58
Pieces from the exhibition Achados do Valongo - Publicity
Around 180 archaeological finds discovered in the Porto Maravilha construction site are in the exhibition Achados do Valongo, which opened this Wednesday (30/11) at the Museum of Afro-Brazilian History and Culture (Muhcab), in Gamboa. This is the first time that piassava ceramics, stones and glass pieces that tell a little about the African heritage in Rio have been presented in the city.
The exhibition, which also marks one year since the inauguration of Muhcab, is an initiative of the Municipal Department of Culture and the Rio Heritage Institute, in partnership with researchers from UERJ and the National Museum. The archaeological findings, which were found at the old Valongo Wharf, where the largest slave market in Brazil operated, are part of the collection of the Open Laboratory of Urban Archaeology (LAAU), of the City of Rio.
The exhibition is free and will be on display for at least one year at Muhcab, which is located at the José Bonifácio Cultural Center. Created on the occasion of the Porto Maravilha construction, LAAU has approximately 1,2 million pieces found during the interventions in the Port Zone. One lot of 262 thousand items is related to the excavations at Cais do Valongo. The others are from the Sacadura Cabral, Morro da Conceição and Trapiche da Ordem sites, among others. The pieces on display now are from the Cais do Valongo lot.
The exhibition is a long-standing demand of the black movement, experts and the Public Prosecutor's Office of the State of Rio de Janeiro. Some of the previously selected pieces were stored at LAAU and some were loaned to the Department of Archaeology of the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences at UERJ for research.
The exhibition is curated by researchers from UERJ and the National Museum, organized by Muhcab, sponsored by the Moreira Salles Institute and the D'Orbigny Institute, and supervised by the National Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage (Iphan). It is part of the museum's permanent exhibition, “Protagonisms – Memory, Pride and Identity”. A space dedicated to reflecting on the history of slavery, seeking reflections on the complexity of the topic and its consequences today, the Museum of Afro-Brazilian History and Culture was inaugurated as a territory museum in November 2021.
Discovered in 2011, during the initial phase of the Porto Maravilha project to revitalize the region, the pier was adjacent to the market. It is estimated that 700 enslaved Africans passed through there between 1790 and 1831, mainly from ports in what is now Angola, but also from Mozambique.
The 2011 archaeological excavation opened up a four thousand square meter piece of land. Hundreds of African artifacts were found there, including necklace beads, cowrie shells, copper earrings and bracelets, crystals, ceramic pieces, piassava rings, figs, clay pipes, copper material, amber, corals and miniatures used in rituals.
SERVICE
Museum of Afro-Brazilian History and Culture (Muhcab)
Pedro Ernesto Street 80, Gamboa.
Thu to Sat, 10am to 17pm.
Free. Free.
