This year, Brazil celebrates 200 years of independence. To make the history of this period even better known, the Secretariat of Culture and Creative Economy of São Paulo made available to Brazilians of all ages the Boniface Agendaa platform online unprecedented, where people can get to know the most remarkable episodes that led to the separation of Brazil from Portugal.
“Such an important milestone in the country’s history needs to be celebrated over a significant period, enough for many events to be commemorated. The platform will be available for consultation until December 2022 and then it will become a record of the bicentennial celebration”, said Secretary Sérgio Sá Leitão. “We chose the name of Bonifácio for the agenda, as he was a very important figure for the development of the independence of Brazil”, he added. José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva was one of the most important characters of the time, working in the fields of art, science and politics.
By accessing the Bonifácio Agenda, the public will be aware, for example, of the series of decrees that culminated in the proclamation of Independence by Dom Pedro I, in september 7th of 1822. The first of them, in fact, was signed by Maria Leopoldina, in August 13 1822, when she was appointed head of state and acting Princess Regent, due to the prince’s trip to resolve political disputes.
Realizing the pressure from the court after her husband refused to return to his home country, the Princess Regent convened the Rio State Council of January and signed in September 2nd, yet another decree declaring Brazil officially separated from Portugal. In the Bonifácio Agenda, the person can also navigate through a timeline, in a historical journey from the year 1500 to the present time, walking through the remarkable facts of this period of history.
In the Other Heroes section, the site takes you to to have contact with characters little known in the historical process, such as pioneer women who left a legacy of resistance and bravery. One of them is Maria Felipa, an important name in the independence movement in Bahia. In this space, it is also possible to follow interviews on the subject with historians such as Lilia Schwarcz, Eduardo Bueno, Mary Del Priori, Isabel Lustosa, Ynaê Lopes dos Santos, among others.
The platform is managed by the Social Organization Amigos da Arte and, in addition to bringing the historical facts of Independence to Brazilians, it makes it possible to share information and publicize events related to the Bicentennial of Independence. For this, the interested person only needs to access the form or write to [email protected] .
“We want Agenda Bonifácio to celebrate independent Brazilians who assume their own identity, whose main objective is to continuously foster a historic, diverse and democratic program, which dialogues directly with the echoes of this milestone in history, which remains present until today in our culture”, said Danielle Nigromonte, director general of Amigos da Arte.
