A snippet of the life of writer Machado de Assis is now part of the façade of the building of the Brazilian Academy of Letters (ABL), in the center of the city of Rio de Janeiro. The 150-meter mural depicts the house where the writer lived, in Morro do Livramento, the Rua do Ouvidor, which was so dear to him, in the city center, his wife, Carolina Augusta, his passion for classical music, literature and his reflections on life and death.
On the left, marking the beginning of the reading, the ornate letter M, as seen at the beginning of old books, which also represents the writer’s first official work, as a typographer.
The central point of the work is another passion of the writer: chess. A checkmate in the discussions about the color of the writer’s skin. The black Machado de Assis defeats a whitened Machado de Assis in the match, reaffirming that the first president of the ABL is a black man.
The mural, inaugurated this Monday (23), is part of the Negro Muro project, conceived by producer and researcher Pedro Rajão and artist Fernando Cazé. In total, there are 62 murals throughout the city of Rio de Janeiro that map black memory through urban art.
Artist Fernando Cazé and researcher Pedro Rajão, creators of the project that maps black memory in the city of Rio – Tania Rêgo/Agency Brazil
According to Cazé, this mural has a special meaning. “It puts an end to the story that Machado was white. So, this idea that we have a white man there, right??. We usually say that art and anti-racist education work together there. We research the territory and erect black monuments according to its territory. So, when we bring Machado de Assis, we don’t bring him here for nothing, we bring him here because he was the first president of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. A black man, whose skin color is still debated today. So, we bring this memory, establishing the idea, the roots that here we had the first black president within the institution.”
Rajão says he approached the Brazilian Academy of Letters to carry out the work and explains that the Black Wall project works with the production of murals, which, for him, is the most democratic form of art possible, and is on the streets, free of charge, visible to anyone who passes by. The project identifies important black personalities and records them in territories that were part of the history and biography of each one.
For Rajão, arriving at the ABL is “a great thrill. Machado de Assis is one of the few unanimous names in the country. So, the project that is focusing on mapping this out is a somewhat obvious name. But we wanted a place that would make an impact, a place that would resonate to echo Machado de Assis even more, who is being rediscovered every now and then.”
Machado de Assis was born and lived in Rio de Janeiro between 1839 and 1908. He is one of the most important Brazilian authors. Machado’s work consists of ten novels, 205 short stories, ten plays, five collections of poems and sonnets, and more than 600 chronicles. He is the author of Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cuba, Quincas Borba, Dom Casmurro, Esau and Jacob and Aires Memorial. He was one of the founders and the first president of the ABL.
New generations
Professor Dandara Suburbana highlights the historical importance of the mural in homage to the writer Machado de Assis – Tania Rêgo/Agency Brazil
The launch of the mural at the ABL included presentations and a round table with researchers. The professor and researcher Suburban Dandara was one of the debaters. “Machado de Assis has historical importance, as a great founder of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, as a black man, who brings excellent literature to the national and international scene, one of the greatest writers in the world”, she states.
“Today, when we have a panel made like Negro Muro did here, like the artist Cazé created, it is also about giving an aesthetic and bringing history, historicize Machado de Assis and all his contributions. Saying that yes, black people write, black people are intellectuals, black people have contributed to the Brazilian Academy of Letters, to the national and international scene of knowledge and expertise”, he emphasizes.
Dandara Suburbana also advocates the development of new readers and says that, contrary to popular belief, young people want and enjoy reading. “Today, we have a common sense, a common jargon that says that young people don’t want to read, that young people aren’t interested in writing, that young people only want to go on TikTok, young people only want to know about social media and Twitter. That’s not true. In fact, social media can be allies. We have several pages that promote black literature, that are talking about this legacy, bringing it in a fun way, combining different media, writing with video, with the body, with speech. So, it is possible for us to think about adding it together.”
Mural brings Brazilian Academy of Letters closer to the Brazilian nation, says writer Godofredo de Oliveira Neto – Tania Rêgo/Agency Brazil
Present at the ceremony, writer Godofredo de Oliveira Neto, a member of the ABL, said that the mural is a way for the ABL to get closer to the Brazilian nation. “Machado is the soul of the ABL. We exist because of him, thanks to him. So, Machado is the epitome of successful Brazilian culture, in terms of aesthetics, content, in short, he is a great thinker. He is not just a great writer, he is a thinker. So, we are honored to be here serving Machado.”
