A set of 666 works by 135 Afro-Brazilian artists was reincorporated this Monday (26) into the national heritage. The largest collection of Afro-Brazilian art ever repatriated to Brazil, the works arrived on January 12th at the National Museum of Afro-Brazilian Culture (Muncab), in Salvador. 
The ensemble returns to the country through the international donation of the Con/Vida collection, organized by North Americans Bárbara Cervenka and Marion Jackson. The exhibition of the new pieces to the public is scheduled for the beginning of March.
The collection brings together three decades of works, such as paintings, sculptures, photographs, engravings, woodcuts, sacred art, ritual objects, prints and other types. Included are fundamental artists of Afro-Brazilian production, such as J. Cunha, Babalu, Goya Lopes, Zé Adário, Lena da Bahia, Raimundo Bida, Sol Bahia, Manoel Bonfim, among many others.
The initiative had the support of the Ministry of Culture (MinC). During the reintegration ceremony, minister Margareth Menezes said that the repatriation symbolizes Brazil’s reunion with its own history.
“These cultural assets return as artistic objects and as living testimonies of Afro-Brazilian memory, reinforcing the dignity, identity and cultural belonging of the Brazilian people”, stated Margareth Menezes.
With the incorporation of the new complex, Muncab now houses one of the largest collections of Afro-Brazilian art in the country. For the director of MUNCAB, Jamile Coelho, the return has the prospect of expanding knowledge about Brazilian cultural production, its cultural assets and the right to memory and historical reparation.
“This is a return of profound symbolic and historical value. This collection left Brazil legally and returns through a conscious decision by the collectors, who recognized the importance of returning to its origins. This collection strengthens the museum’s mission to tell the history of Brazil from democratic, inclusive and plural perspectives”, he stated.
