Installation View

Roots: Beginning, Middle, and Beginning

Drawing from African cosmologies of time, Raízes: Começo, Meio e Começo (Roots: Beginning, Middle, and Beginning) challenges Western notions of time as an irreversible sequence— beginning, middle, and end— proposing ancestrality as a vital fundation for understanding and shaping both the present and the future.

Éder Muniz, “Ilê Ti Okàn”, 2024. Mixed media, resin and gourd, 35 cm x 25 cm (each piece). Artist’s collection. Photo: Luan Teles / SecultBA

Jeise Ekê de Lundu, “Quem Procura o que não Guardou quando encontra não Reconhece”, 2024. Installation. Cardboard tree, kraft paper roll, latex paint, geo-paint, organic varnish, insect shells and fabric, sawdust floor with ceramic plates, 10 m x 10 m x 4 m. Artist’s collection. Photo: Luan Teles / SecultBA

Exhibition view of Raízes: Começo, Meio e Começo, at MUNCAB. Photo: Luan Teles / SecultBA

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Wed 18 Jun, 2025

The exhibition Raízes: Começo, Meio e Começo was held at the National Museum of Afro-Brazilian Culture (MUNCAB) in Salvador showcased the work of 80 Black artists, organized into five thematic sections: “Origins,” “Sacred,” “Streets,” “Afrofuturism,” and “Bembé do Mercado.”

At the heart of the exhibition stood the Baobab tree, regarded as the tree of life in various African cultures. Its deep roots symbolize ancestrality and memory, while the trunk represents new generations, rooted in a solid foundation to withstand adversity. The branches, in turn, suggest maturity, and the falling leaves nourish the cycle of continuous renewal. In the history of enslaved Black peoples between the 15th and 16th centuries, the Baobab also carried the symbolism of the tree of forgetfulness. Before being forced to cross the Atlantic on slave ships bound for the Americas, African captives were made to perform a ritual of uprooting around the Baobab in an attempt to sever ties to their homeland and erase their memories.

Curated by Jamile Coelho, director of MUNCAB, and Jil Soares, the exhibition celebrated these deep roots and African resistance.

Raízes: Começo, Meio e Começo was on view at MUNCAB until March 2025.

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Exhibition view of Raízes: Começo, Meio e Começo, at MUNCAB. Photo: Luan Teles / SecultBA

Nádia Taquary, “Puxada de Rede”, 2013. Installation composed of a boat with mast, net, and 60 silver-plated metal fish. Boat: 3 m; net: 17 m. Artist’s collection. Photo: Luan Teles / SecultBA

Exhibition view of Raízes: Começo, Meio e Começo, at MUNCAB. Photo: Luan Teles / SecultBA

Unknown author, “Oduduwa – Yoruba Ethnicity”, undated. Bronze casting, 34 cm x 16 cm x 15 cm. Katuka Africanidades Collection. Photo: Luan Teles / SecultBA

Exhibition view of Raízes: Começo, Meio e Começo, at MUNCAB. Photo: Luan Teles / SecultBA

Nalbert P.S., “Trancoso Is No Longer a Village Series”, 2023. Three-dimensional object. Handwoven raw cotton threads, stencil printing, stitching and blue spray paint, 100 cm x 150 cm (total fabric: 100 cm x 300 cm). Artist’s collection. Photo: Luan Teles / SecultBA