Architectures of abolition: errancy, passages, and traces in black churches

• Grant number: 25/23205-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Program to Stimulate Scientific Vocations
• Start date: April 01, 2026
• End date: May 05, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Anthropology - Theory of Anthropology
• Principal Investigator: Rodrigo Ferreira Toniol
• Grantee: Luís Cláudio Mendes
• Host Institution: INST FILOSOFIA CIENCIAS SOCIAIS/UFRJ

Abstract

This project proposes to investigate the historical and cultural dynamics that take shape in the architectural structures of churches associated with Blackness in post-abolition Brazil. It is noteworthy that, in studies of urban transformation, cityscapes have tracked major historical processes such as the abolition of slavery, followed by urban modernization projects. In this context, by analyzing the marks of destruction, transformation, and persistence in buildings and Black expressions, the project seeks to understand how the city materializes processes of erasure, resistance, and re-signification. By exploring religious remnants, the study aims to reveal obscured narratives of Black memory and their contemporary ramifications, highlighting the tensions between destruction and preservation that traverse Afro-Brazilian cultural heritage. The project thus intends to contribute to debates on valuing the material and immaterial legacies of Blackness, articulating a critical reflection on the impacts of abolition on the symbolic and physical architectures of Afro-Brazilian communities.