Baroque-açu: Portuguese America in the art geography of the global South

• Grant number: 21/06538-9
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants - Phase 2
• Duration: February 01, 2022 - January 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning - Fundamentals of Architecture and Urbanism
• Principal Investigator: Renata Maria de Almeida Martins
• Grantee: Renata Maria de Almeida Martins
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FAU). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Beatriz Piccolotto Siqueira Bueno ; Carlos Alberto Page ; Cristiana Nunes Galvao de Barros Barreto ; Fernando Loffredo ; Luciano Migliaccio ; Maria João Fontes Pereira Coutinho ; Regina Helena Vieira Santos ; René Lommez Gomes ; Ricardo Alberto González
• Associated research grant: 15/23222-4 - Baroque encrypted: cultural plurality in art and architecture of the Jesuit missions in the territory of the State of São Paulo (1549-1759), AP.JP
• Associated scholarship(s): 23/04130-8 - Feather art from the indigenous cultures of the Amazon in the collection of Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira at the Museum of Sciences of the University of Coimbra, BP.MS; 22/12753-2 - Seará-Grande, the Geneva of the Sertões: a baroque landscape transliterated in the circulation of Jesuits, Flemishes and Portugueses, BP.DR; 22/14302-8 - Connected histories between Amazon and Goa: Antônio José Landi and the circulation of architectural culture models on the Portuguese Colonial Empire, BP.PD; + associated scholarships 22/16852-5 - Game of scales in Landscape Archeology: regressive cartographies from Piauí to the city of Teresina, between toponyms and platbands, BP.MS; 22/01144-5 - Jesuit Sacred Arts Museum in Embu das Artes: Social Agents and the Local/Global Context of a Collection, BP.DR; 22/08904-5 - About "Hybrid Andean Baroque": the main studies on the decoration of religious architecture façades in the Andes between the 17th and 18th centuries, BP.IC; 21/06049-8 - Acaraú´s Cattle farms, BP.MS; 21/05595-9 - São Paulo, frontier region. History and geography of artistic exchanges between Portuguese America and the River Plate Basin (16th-18th century), BP.DR; 21/09453-4 - Chan Chan, from Huaca to Huachaque: sources for the study of the Chimu ancient capital, BP.IC - associated scholarships

Abstract

The project Baroque-açu: Portuguese America in the art geography of the global South is an initiative that aims to continue the activities developed by the projeto jovem pesquisador Baroque encrypted: cultural plurality in art and architecture of the jesuit missions in the State of São Paulo, 1549-1759, funded by FAPESP, at the Department of History of Architecture at FAU USP from 2016 to 2021. In this phase, a line of research was implemented about artistic culture in America during the colonial period, supported by interdisciplinary collaboration with the areas of archeology, anthropology and the history of urbanization. The line promoted the updating of the contents of mandatory and optional subjects, and the creation of new ones, with the participation of national and foreign guest professors. It led to the formation of two inter-university study groups on the contributions of indigenous, Afro-Brazilians and Asian cultures to artistic production in Latin America. There was also regular organization of university extension activities, through two series of events open to the public on the same themes. During the five years of the FAPESP project, more than one hundred events were held and nineteen projects were supervised, including scientific initiations, masters, supervision and doctoral co-supervision in national and international institutions. The aim of this second project is not only to consolidate the results described above, but to contribute to redefine the place of Portuguese America in the artistic and cultural geography of the time of the first globalization, and, at the same time, deepen and extend the international insertion of research held at the University of São Paulo, continuing the cooperation with recognized institutions abroad, and with indigenous artists and traditional communities, which had already begun in the previous phase. Through an assessment of the results obtained, the study of the various artistic, geographical and cultural contexts, essential to understanding the transcultural manifestations of art and architecture in America, in a plural form, will be deepened. Hence the need to consider an expanded field of art and architecture, rethink global flows, in the light of local contexts within the Southern hemisphere, questioning anachronistic geographical boundaries and concepts, as well as outdated notions of center and periphery, inserting the theme in a long-term perspective. Brazil was a part of the global trade routes that connected the territories ruled by the Iberian monarchies in different areas of the world. It was also part of the worldwide network formed by the Jesuit missions. In these spaces, works were produced that reflected the local interpretation of aesthetic concepts and visual cultures and materials from distant regions. To achieve his purpose, the project intends not only to continue and expand investigations into the transit of prints, objects, artists, materials and techniques in the missions and their workshops, but also, based on these inquiries, to contribute to renew the perspectives about art and architecture history in Portuguese America and its connection with other regions of Hispanic America. The project also aims to promote research about historical and iconographic sources that allow the identification of indigenous, African and mestizo agency, essential factor in the translation of Asian and European models, and contribute to the understanding of the social and cultural function of objects and images in different contexts. (AU)