A ressignificação da estética afro no desenvolvimento de padrões afro-contemporâneos

Abstract

The project started out with an historical, ethnological and anthropological inquiry into the construction and development of notions such as ‘African’ and ‘Afro-Brasilian’. More in particular, it sought to reveal how an afro-aesthetic informs the afro-prints currently produced in Brazil. Through research, new signs of afro-brasilianess were identified, as well as contemporary directions in the development of this aesthetics. These findings were used to open up the field usually referred to as ‘black aesthetics’. Building forth on these findings, the project aimed at the creation of a collection of prints that uses surface design to communicate new paradigms in Brazilian negritude. Using some elements from the Afro-Brazilian lifeworld, a collection of six prints was produced, divided in three families, all pertaining to the so called ‘surfwear style’.