STATEMENT

When I was a child, I had the opportunity to visit places where people of African descent straightened their hair. At that time, I didn't grasp the colonialist meaning behind this procedure. The experience marked me as an artist and as a non-black human being, which later led me to investigate the significance of ancestral hairstyles in African Culture. All of this, awakened a sense of reparation in me, which manifested in two projects:

The first one was a photograph essay: I decided to celebrate natural kinky hair in an lush way. I portrayed afrodescendant models with the intention of giving them sculptural dimension, as if we were in a sort of Afro Olympus (used Classical Greek Sculpture reference aiming its harmony of forms and proportions that represents the ideal of human beauty.) The photographs were set using the Baroque churches of my city, Salvador-Bahia as the background. By juxtaposing the baroque sacred art, an icon of the European colonizer, with Afro-descendant characters photographed in such opulence and classical manner, I promote a dialogue that subverts the colonialist logic, resulting in a poetics that exalts Afro-descendant culture in an unusual, respectful, and beautiful way.

In the second moment, I collaborate with master braider afrodescendant activist “Negra Jhô”  carrying out free practical workshops, helping to spread the art of braiding kinky hair in disadvantaged communities at  Salvador city surroundings,  my hometown. In these workshops, we also organize talks with the aim of combating the stigma associated with "bad hair." Our purpose was to encourage women to affirm their Afro identity  developing their self-steem.

Robério Braga