Acervo da Laje: A Museum of Afro-Brazilian Arts

Oi Gente! (an affectionate word for “the people” or “us” in Brazil, pronounced jane-chee),

My name is Ariel Valéria Barbosa, a young leader born-and-raised in Baltimore with ancestral roots in Bahia, Brazil. A Bahia-based professor and mentor of mine insisted that I must meet and visit a man named Dr. José Eduardo. And so I did, at his museum of the arts Acervo da Laje, embedded within the low-income favelas where my family lives, just outside of Salvador, Brazil. There, he chooses to remain and invest his creative energy.

I quickly understood why we must meet. Their work is incredible. It has become my mission to raise funds for this museum & community center and ultimately, to reconnect us, the African diaspora. My “saudade” (longing) for Bahia is everlasting, but I know I need to be in my home of Baltimore, that I am meant to serve as a bridge between the two, very similar in their contexts and conceptions of luminous art.

Take a listen to José Eduardo’s TED talk to experience his brilliant vision & insights:

**For subtitles in English:

Select settings on the upper right of the video

Select captions

Then select “Auto-translate” to English**

The video attached below is created by me, a lover of both Baltimore and Bahia, of the arts, and of what speaks to the “coração” & moves my soul.

Thank you for considering donating funds for the expenses, infrastructure, and programming of Acervo da Laje! If you would like to connect your community, organization, or business into this initiative, please reach out to me. I would love to come and visit you in your space! Only the future can tell what we will create together.

Axé,

Ariel Valéria Barbosa