The Fine Artist and intellectual Emanoel Araújo, one of the giants of the Afro-Brazilian arts in the country, passed away this Wednesday at his home in São Paulo, aged 81.
Araújo built, for over six decades, a vast career that ranged from sculpture to illustration, from engraving to scenography, always emphasizing the role of black heritage in the national culture.
His first solo exhibition was in 1959, in his native state of Bahia, with a work marked by woodcuts and illustrations focused on the theater. One decade later, his work became more abstract.
In the 1970s, he was awarded by the 3rd Graphic Biennial of Florence and by the São Paulo Association of Art Critics, which considered him the best sculptor and engraver in the country. His first solo show at Masp, Museu de Arte de São Paulo, opened in 1981.
It didn’t take long for Araújo to gain recognition as one of the main curators and museologists in the country, having directed the Bahia Art Museum from 1981 to 1983 and the São Paulo Pinacoteca from 1992 to 2002.
The managing of the Afro Brasil Museum, located inside the Ibirapuera Park in São Paulo, came in 2004 to crown his work in the curatorship and dissemination of black art in Brazil.
Translated by Cassy Dias