Washington Post Article: 'Muslim Women,' Sans Context

By Jessica Dawson
Special to The Washington Post

"Muslim Women in Germany," a new photography exhibition soon to reopen at the Goethe-Institut, proves much less straightforward than its simple title suggests.

Upward of 3 million Muslims live in Germany; more than 2 million of them are Turks. Many are guest workers who arrived in the 1960s (hired to do menial jobs the Germans wouldn't) and their children and grandchildren.

Read the full article.

PHOTO: Jordis Antonia Schloesser's photos, part of the Goethe-Institut show, capture Muslim women protesting in Germany. Copyright Jordis Antonia Schloesser -- Ostkreuz Photo Agency

Netsilik Eskimo series

Produced by the National Film Board of Canada, 1967
These films reveal the live reality of traditional Eskimo life before the European acculturation.

Read more on the Flickr site.

Cemí Underground presents “Un Caribe en Nueva York” Photo Exhibit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Sery Colon @ Cemí Underground (212) 860-2820 info@cemiunderground.com www.cemiunderground.com

Cemí Underground Kicks Off 2008 with ‘Un Caribe en Nueva York’

EAST HARLEM — Cemí Underground presents “Un Caribe en Nueva York” photo exhibit from January 4-18, featuring a collection of images from Puerto Rico and New York City. The exhibit explores Puerto Rican culture through the lens of New York City-based boricua photographers Chris Lopez, Eliud Martinez and Clarisel Gonzalez (who is also the exhibit’s curator).
"When we launched Cemí Underground it was with the goal of establishing an entity that would add another voice to the desperately few voices promoting and proclaiming our art and artists to the world," says Luis Cordero, co-founder of Cemí Underground, a cultural haven in El Barrio. "Our weekly events and art exhibitions give an opportunity to our artistic community to share their talent and hone their skills as well."

Come celebrate the New Year with us with these talented artists. The opening reception kicks off at 6 p.m. January 4 at Cemí Underground, 1799 Lexington Avenue @ E. 112 St. Admission is free and refreshments will be served. The exhibit will run until January 18. The hours are Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 7 p.m.

About the photographers:
Chris Lopez is a photojournalist who has dedicated the bulk of his photographic work to Puerto Rican culture. The images on exhibit are from “Puerto York,” a body of work documenting the boricua experience in Puerto Rico and New York.
Eliud Martinez is a photographer and writer whose diverse professional activities and art have drawn him to understand human interactions in the context of multiculturalism, human rights and social justice. These values are implicit in his images.

Clarisel Gonzalez is a freelance journalist/independent producer. An active photoblogger, her goal is to use photography to empower, inform and celebrate life. She regularly highlights Puerto Rican/Latino themes in her images.
For more information on the artists, visit www.flickr.com/groups/uncaribeenny.

Cemí Underground is a Latino cultural shop and venue in East Harlem. For more information, contact Sery Colon at (212) 860-2820 or info@cemiunderground.com.

New Power Generation 2008: A National Juried Exhibition

New Power Generation 2008, organized by the Hampton University Museum, is a national competition for contemporary art by people of African descent. It is an opportunity for the museum to enhance its long-held reputation as a documenter of movements in the visual arts by focusing its attention on emerging and working artists who are creating new forms and charting new directions.

Napoleon Jones-Henderson is the juror for this year's competition. Henderson is a mixed media artist whose career as an artist and educator spans over thirty years. Exhibiting extensively in the United Sates and internationally, Henderson is also a member of AfriCobra (African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists) since 1969. He is currently executive director of the Research Institute of African and African Diaspora Arts, Inc., in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and an associate professor of art at Benedict College, Columbia, South Carolina.

To receive a Prospectus for New Power Generation 2008 contact: Vanessa D. Thaxton-Ward, 757.727.5508 or Vanessa.Thaxton-Ward@Hamptonu.edu

SF Chronicle Article: "Little-seen photographs of ordinary people caught up in civil rights movement"

by Regan McMahon, Chronicle Deputy Book Editor

Mine Eyes Have Seen
Bearing Witness to the Struggle for Civil Rights
Photographs by Bob Adelman; essays by Charles Johnson
TIME INC.; 196 PAGES; $29.95

"Many books have chronicled the civil rights movement and the great achievements of its leaders. What makes photojournalist and social activist Bob Adelman's "Mine Eyes Have Seen" so distinctive is his focus on the regular folks affected by the movement and those who laid their lives on the line for it, and the fact that the artist behind the lens was no passive observer.

Adelman was a partisan, a white man who not only chronicled these people and events for national magazines such as Life, Newsweek and Time but also passionately believed in the need for radical change so that black Americans would enjoy the same rights and privileges as other U.S. citizens. He volunteered as a photographer for the Congress of Racial Equality and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee."

Read the full article.

PHOTO: "Socialite gathering, Dallas, Texas," shows the black maid's isolation in a world of privilege. Photo by Bob Aldeman

The First Latino To Sit On The Board of Directors of the Detroit Professional Photographers Association (DPPA)

Portrait photographer Fred Mora is making photography history.

Read more about his accomplishment - congratulations Fred!

Photographer Phyllis Galembo

Galembo has worked for over twenty years photographing the rituals and religious culture in Nigeria, Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica and Haiti, as well as the homegrown custom of Halloween in the United States.

She is currently a professor in the Fine Arts department of the University of Albany, NY and has published several books of her photography.

Acting as a photo-anthropologist, Galembo's work is vital to the preservation of the rituals and ceremonies of these misunderstood and misrepresented cultures.

View galleries of Galembo's work online.

PHOTO: Okao Aiwerioghene, Benin City, 1991 © Copyright Phyllis Galembo. All Rights Reserved.

Cameras for Healing: Building a Culture of Peace in Sierra Leone

Maurice Henri is a photographer whose exhibit on photographs of village life in South Africa has received critical and popular acclaim. Maurice Henri, a Canadian, has been a professional photographer since 1988, dividing his time between commercial, teaching, and fine art photography. He is also creator, producer, and host of “FOTO,” an award-winning Canadian television series about photography that features educational segments about photography and interviews with prominent photographers.

Long active in community projects, especially with young people and the blind, he has founded “Cameras for Healing,” an international peace initiative currently working with former child soldiers in Sierra Leone.

For more information on this project please visit www.camerasforhealing.com

Article Profiles Dying Photo Profession: "The strange world of Jhatpat photo studios"

By Sanjay M Johri for merinews

It is around 11 a.m. Be it the busy court areas, Municipal Corporation, Housing Board or the office of the Lucknow Development Authority, you will these offices and the vicinity abuzz with the routine chorus.

People wait and try to get different types of work. And in most of the cases, especially near the court and Muncipal Corporation, one often requires a photograph, which a studio would take at least 24 hours to deliver or a Polaroid shot would cost you about Rs.100, for 10 photos.

Don’t worry, if your pocket does not allow you to avail the modern facility from the studios. Jhatpat studios offer an answer, especially the poor.

These nomadic lensmen may be seen around the court, Collectorate, the transport offices, and elsewhere with a promise to deliver the photos within 10 minutes--- three snaps for just Rs.15 or Rs. 20.

Jhatpat (instant) — can there be an epithet more befitting to the open-air, makeshift studios, with just a stool and an antiquated pedestal camera?

Read the full article.

PHOTO: This picture was clicked in Chhapaar da Mela (A rural festival) in Punjab, India, Copyright © 2004 Diwan Manna

Exhibit: "Photographs of Abelardo Morell"

University of New England Art Gallery

Westbrook College Campus
716 Stevens Ave.
Portland, Maine, United States
Now through Sunday, January 27, 2008
Hours of operation: 1-4 p.m., Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 1-7 p.m., Thursdays

Abelardo Morell returns to the Art Gallery at the University of New England for a second visit in his illustrious photographic career. This retrospective of the Cuban-born photographer will include works from his early oeuvre, as well as works from his book project, camera obscura, time and motion, and children's toys.

Born in Havana in 1948, Abelardo Morell has been making photographs since 1969, seven years after coming to the United States. Following his graduation from Bowdoin College in 1977, he received an MFA degree from Yale in 1981. He returned to Bowdoin to serve on the faculty during which time he had his first one-man exhibition at Westbrook College.

At first following the paths of photographers whose work he admired, he soon found both his content and his style, shooting familiar objects in ways that we have never seen them, creating images uniquely his: an inverted city skyline on an inside wall, surrealistically overlapping the room's furnishings; the sculpted shape or pages of a book so close up as to be abstract; the towering everyday world from the perspective of his crawling son.

When needed he has invented the very means for expression his vision, such as turning a room into a giant camera obscura by taping black tarps over windows allowing just a pinhole of light to penetrate. Widely exhibited, published, and collected, Morell is currently a professor of photography at the Massachusetts College of Art.

PHOTO: Tim and Rembrandt, Gardner Museum, 1998, Copyright © 2006 Abelardo Morell

Exhibit: “Recovered Views: African-American Portraits, 1912–1925”

Open now at the Jesse James Farm and Museum, 21216 Jesse James Farm Road, Kearney, MO. The exhibit, presented by Clay County Historic Sites, is a showing of 40 black-and-white portraits attributed to John Johnson, an African-American photographer who lived and worked in Lincoln, Neb., in the early 20th century. The display will run through Jan. 9. Call 816-628-6065 for more info.

UNICEF Photo of the Year International Award

Highlihgts some really poignant photojournalism by both emerging and established photographers.

The series by freelance photographer Stephanie Sinclair on the topic of child brides in Afghanistan is both enlightening and frightening. Her photos really convey the fear and bewilderment of these young girls sold by their families to men who are old enough to be their fathers.

I applaud these (mostly European and American) photographers for braving their own lives to document those of such oppressed/depressed communities of color around the world. At the same time, I have to wonder - why were no photographers of color honored? I find it hard to believe there were no submissions from this underrepresented group...

Criticism aside, the work of these photographers truly drive home the fact that the children of third world countries are in dire situations. Robbed of their innocence and poisoned at such an early age, their lives speak volumes to the future of these countries as they go on to become adults.

You can view the images of each winner on the UNICEF Photo of the Year International Award website.

LuzTranslation: Personal Photo Project by Keith Dannemiller

On his website, the photographer describes this current series as "color portraits of Mexicans from across the country and the social spectrum."

Dannemiller's photos are stunningly rich in color and visual impact - each a glimpse into the lives of these Mexican citizens.

With the immigration debate dominating the news and upcoming U.S. presidential elections, it's refreshing to see Mexicans portrayed as ordinary humans struggling to carve out an existence for themselves - just like we all are, no matter what color or nationality.

Though not Mexican himself, Dannemiller does live in Mexico city. His familiarity with the culture and ability to relate to his subjects is clearly shown in the way each person seems to be at ease and trusting of the man behind the lens.

View more of "LuzTranslation" online.

PHOTO: Young woman training to be a boxer, 2006 Copyright © Keith Dannemiller

Photo Book: "Women of a New Tribe: A Photographic Celebration of the Black Woman"

Excerpt from book review by Kam Williams:

Jerry Taliaferro, the author, says in the preface of his new book, "Women of a New Tribe: A Photographic Celebration of the Black Woman," "These beautiful women have always been around us. They are our wives, mothers, sisters, daughters and friends. We can see the beauty in them if [we] just try. Perhaps in seeing their beauty, we will come to see what makes a woman truly beautiful� Just maybe we will come to understand that real beauty is more than that which can be seen. Real beauty is that which lifts us, real beauty touches our hearts."

Taliaferro is a West Point graduate who turned to photography full time after leaving the military in 1988 following a decorated career in the service as a special forces officer. Over the intervening years, he has met with considerable success at his true calling, though devoting most of his attention to commercial assignments.

Recently, however, after preparing a single portrait of an African American female originally intended to simply serve as a sample in his portfolio, Jerry was struck by the fact that, "Very little attention had been paid to the beauty of the black woman. The black woman was almost invisible." So, he came up with the novel idea of portraying sisters in a glamorous style from the 1940s reminiscent of the classic, blackand- white fashion shoots of such classic Hollywood actresses as Greta Garbo and Katherine Hepburn."

View images from the book at Jerry Taliaferro's website.

PHOTO: "Deaconess" Copyright © 2007 Jerry Taliaferro

Hands Heads Hearts: A Juried Art Exhibition for Women of African Descent

This exhibition is open to Women of African Descent residing world wide. Accepted media are: oil, watermedia, pastel, graphics, mixed media (including films written and directed by a Woman of African Descent), photography, sculpture, quilts, and fine craft art. Download prospectus or send SASE to Hands Heads Hearts, The Pen and Brush, 16 E. 10th St., New York NY 10003.

Entry deadline is January 4th; exhibition dates are February 8th to March 2nd.

Photo Book: "Mau Moko: The World of Maori Tattoo"

by Te Awekotuku Ngahuia and Linda Waimarie Nikora with new colour photography by award-winning photographer Becky Nunes, Published by Penguin Group Australia

In the traditional Maori world, the moko, or facial or body tattoo, was a sign of great mana and status. Male warriors wore elaborate tattoos on their faces and bodies; women took more delicate chin tattoos. After almost dying out in the twentieth century, Maori tattooing is now experiencing a powerful revival, with many young Maori wearing the moko as a spectacular gesture of racial pride.

Mau Moko is probably the most magnificent book ever produced about the moko, from pre-European times to the present day. It examines the use of tattooing by traditional and contemporary Maori and links it to other aspects of Maori culture. Gender issues are considered along with tattooing techniques both old and new. The book features case studies of modern Maori who have made a personal decision to be tattooed; the role and status of the tattooers; exploitation of the moko in popular culture around the world by figures such as rock singers and football players.

See photos from the book at Becky Nunes' website.

Photo Book: "Soul Sanctuary: Image of the African American Worship Experience"

by Jason Miccolo Johnson

With foreword written by Gordon Parks

Read more on the official website.

Kansas City Star Article: "Rare photo collection depicts Midwest African-American life in early 1900s"

by Bill Graham

Excerpt:

"A boy in fine knickers and women in ankle-length dresses tell of a time long gone.

But the compelling eyes and the faces are timeless.

They are visions of an African-American community that might have been lost.

But a sleuthing photo curator discovered a master photographer’s work on haunting glass plate negatives taken in Lincoln, Neb.

“Recovered Views: African American Portraits, 1912-1925” opened Saturday for public viewing at the Jesse James Farm and Museum near Kearney."

Read the full article.

Calvin Littlejohn Photographic Archive

Artist Bio:

Calvin Littlejohn (1909-1993) was born in Arkansas but moved to Fort Worth, Texas, in the 1930s and established his commercial photography studio in the Fort Worth area in 1934. World War II interrupted his photographic work, as he served as an Army private at Ft. Leonard Wood in Missouri, but upon his return Littlejohn began expanding his scope to include capturing recreation hall parties, speaking engagements, visiting celebrities, church events, school activities, and other everyday events which produced more candid images than his studio portrait work, which he still maintained.

Though Littlejohn spent time as an accomplished gardener, civic developer (in his attempts to revitalize Ft. Worth's Evans Ave. business district), publisher, painter, and inventor, the demands of his successful photography studio, as well as occasional freelance photography for newspapers like the Fort Worth Mind, Lake Como Monitor, La Vida News, the Fort Worth Press, and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, occupied most of his time. Littlejohn's work provides a comprehensive portrait of the African-American experience in Ft. Worth and Tarrant County during segregation and beyond.

See an archive of Littlejohn's work featuring musicians, historical figures, daily life in Texas and much more.

12th ANNUAL NATIONAL BLACK FINE ART SHOW

February 14–17, 2008

The Puck Building
295 Lafayette Street
Houston and Lafayette Streets
New York City

Contact
212-925-5257
www.blackfineartshow.com

“...a mandatory event among devotees of black art.” The New York Times

The 12th annual presentation of the National Black Fine Art Show (NBFAS), the premier fine art fair presenting
original artwork by African, African American and Caribbean artists, will take place February 14–17, 2008 at the
Puck Building in SoHo. The show presents 38 of the finest international dealers exhibiting work in a range of media
from paintings, photography, limited edition prints, mixed media and works on paper to fiber art and sculpture. All
artwork will be for sale.

When NBFAS was founded in 1997 it was the first fine art fair to highlight work by black artists. Despite demand
from a burgeoning black upper middle class, the genre was neglected in the mainstream art market. Josh Wainwright,
the show’s founder and producer recalls that “The show helped to develop a long neglected area of African-American
culture, history and economic structure. The artists and the galleries who represent them, have found that this show
brings together a huge audience of knowledgeable curators, collectors and enthusiasts. Artwork sales are essential to
the economic well-being necessary for professional artists. One of the main objectives of the show is to promote our
artists and enable them to pursue their artistic goals and develop their talents. The show has done just that. One can
see the progress made by many of these artists by viewing the growth and development in quality of the material they
bring to the show each successive year.”

An impressive range of material will be presented, from historical 19th century masters to contemporary work by
newly emergent artists. Among the artists represented will be: Charles Alston, Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett,
Lois Mailou Jones, Allen Stringfellow, Ann Tanksley, Alan Rohan Crite, Richard Yarde, Ernest C. Withers, John
Wilson, Charly Palmer, Marion Perkins, Dox Thrash, Glenn Ligon, Santiago Olazabal, Melvin Clark, Dana Chandler,
Emma Amos and Walter H. Williams.

NBFAS will open with a preview party on Wednesday evening, February 13 to benefit The Schomburg Center for
Research in Black Culture The Schomburg Center is the world's leading research library devoted exclusively to
documenting the history and cultural development of peoples of African descent throughout the world. Preview
tickets include a show catalog and one daily readmission.

The NBFAS 2008 Educational Series is produced and benefits MoCADA, the Museum of Contemporary African
Diasporan Arts. Based in Brooklyn, the museum is Brooklyn’s first devoted to utilizing the visual arts to address
contemporary social, political and economic issues affecting people of the African Diaspora. This year’s series
focuses on placing Black artwork in museums, galleries, auction houses and art fairs. Topics include: “War Stories:
How have curators, artists and collectors defied the artistic boundaries and opened the doors of opportunity for
themselves and the next generation,” “Exploring the New Wave of Celebrity Artists,” “Don’t call me a Black
Artist/Gallery!” and “How to Increase the Value of your Collection.” For information about the Educational Series or
MoCADA, please call 718-230-0492.

The Puck Building is located at the corner of Houston and Lafayette Streets in SoHo, the arts district of New York
City. A café and bar catered by Spoonbread will be open during show hours. The Puck Building is wheelchair
accessible, no strollers allowed.

Preview Party Preview hours 5–9:30pm, Early entry at 5 is $150, 6:30pm entrance is $100
Please call the Schomburg Center at 212 491 2206 to order Preview tickets.
Dates & Hours: Thursday and Friday, February 14 and 15: noon–8pm
Saturday, February 16: 11am–8pm
Sunday, February 17: 11am–6pm
Admission: Daily Admission $15 (includes show catalog), 3-Day Pass $40
Students $10 (with valid ID). Student 3-Day Pass $25
Call for group rates. Daily tickets sold at the door only.
Educational Series: Benefitting MoCADA, the Museum of Contemporary Diasporan Arts, 718-230-0492
Press Contact: Caroline Kerrigan 646-403-8192 or pr@blackfineartshow.com

NY Times Article: Where Hip-Hop, Martial Arts and Chess Meet

Another one of those posts that has nothing to do with photography per se, but it is a story that counters the negative and perverse nature of hip-hop today.

I bet the last time you bumped Wu-Tang you didn't imagine the RZA and the GZA as chess kings! But it all makes perfect sense to me...

The music of Wu-Tang triggers many memories. As a Brooklyn teenager I could spit the lyrics of the clan's epic hits like "C.R.E.A.M." and honey dip-lovin' tracks like "Ice Cream" (shout out to my boy Dennis C. for his tutelage :)

I always enjoyed listening to the interludes on a Wu-Tang album: laced with audio from old kung-fu flicks - swords cling/clanging and fast tongues challenging each other.

My point is, The Wu-Tang Clan ain't nuthin' to f*ck with.

These are guys who have definitely enjoyed the fun and games that came with bootie, weed & hip-hop - but have also managed to find balance in their lives with the mental stimulation and discipline that the game of chess and the martial arts affords.

I'm sure not all of the clan's members fit this description (i.e. ODB, may he R.I.P.), but I give much respect to the RZA and GZA (shown in the photo) for stepping outside of the life box, growing as men/humans and challenging stereoptypes.

Read the full article by Dylan Loebb McClain.

PHOTO: Heidi Schumann for The New York Times

Boston Globe Article on Carrie Mae Weems

"Weems explores issues from both sides of camera" By Vanessa E. Jones

The Hyena & Other Men by Pieter Hugo

Amazing photo documentary featuring portraits of a group of animal wranglers in Nigeria.

Read more about the project and see the entire collection on Pieter Hugo's website.

Also on exhibit at the Yossi Milo Gallery in New York.

PHOTO: Abdullahi Mohammed with Mainasara, Ogere-Remo, Nigeria 2007

© PIETER HUGO, 2007

Rare John Brown daguerreotype sold Friday for $97,750

By TERRY KINNEY Associated Press Writer

A rare daguerreotype of abolitionist John Brown was bought by an unidentified bidder by telephone for $97,750 on Friday, auctioneer Wes Cowan said.

The buyer declined to be identified or to talk about the purchase, Cowan said.

Experts say probably no more than a half dozen original daguerreotypes exist of the man best known for his ill-fated raid on a federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Va.

Brown was born in 1800 in Connecticut, lived in Ohio for a time and was a free-state activist in Kansas before the October 1859 raid that he hoped would inspire an anti-slavery rebellion. He was wounded and captured, and was tried and hanged by the state of Virginia for treason two months later. Although revered by some for his anti-slavery militancy, Abraham Lincoln called him a "misguided fanatic."

A daguerreotype was an early form of photography popular in the 1840s and 1850s in which an image is formed on a chemically treated metal plate. The method was named for Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre, the French painter who developed the process.

The photo auctioned Friday remained in Brown's family through five generations until descendants contacted Cowan, asking him to broker the sale to help them pay medical bills, he said.

"It's the most important photograph we've handled in our 13 years of existence," said Cowan, an occasional appraiser on "Antiques Roadshow" and host of the PBS series "History Detectives."

He had estimated a sale price of $60,000 to $80,000.

The last daguerreotype of Brown that sold at auction went for $115,000 in 1997, Cowan said. It is displayed at the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery.

"That one shows him holding a flag with one hand, and one hand raised as if taking an oath and has a lot of drama to it," Kansas historian Karl Gridley said. "This one is more of straight-on shot."

In it, Brown is wearing a jacket with several buttons _ the same one or similar to the jacket in the National Gallery portrait _ and has his arms crossed in front of him.

"This extremely rare and riveting portrait is doubly significant not only as one of the earliest daguerreotypes of the revolutionary abolitionist but also because the long-lost image was made by the remarkable African-American photographer Augustus Washington," said Theresa Leininger-Miller, an art history professor at the University of Cincinnati.

Washington had been a teacher but turned to photography to pay off his college debts. He had one of the most successful daguerreotype studios in Hartford, Conn., before emigrating to Liberia, where he became a planter, politician and newspaper editor.

The auction catalog described the portrait this way:

"A self-assured and clean-shaven Brown stares intently and directly at the viewer with steely, blue-gray eyes and the hint of a knowing smile as the left side of his mouth upturns slightly and puffs out the cheek near his hawk-like nose."

Later, better-known portraits show Brown with a long, bushy beard. Experts believe the National Gallery daguerreotype and the one offered Friday were made during the same sitting at Washington's Hartford studio in 1846 or 1847.
___
On the Net:
Cowan's Auctions: http://www.cowans.com/

Film Forum's Tribute to Ousmane Sembène

NYC's Film Forum pays tribute to the "father of African cinema", Senegalese film director, producer and writer Ousmane Sembène.

Sembène is a true genius who used his art to explore major issues affecting the whole African continent like poverty, illiteracy, war, female circumcision, neo-colonial exploitation and much more.

If like me you'll miss the movies shown at the Film Forum, Netflix has a good selection of his films.

Sembène, who passed away on June 10, 2007, believed that cinema was a means of "exposing the problems confronting my people."

Much respect to this great man!

Exhibit: "BLACKS In and Out of the Box"

A new photography exhibit at the California African American Museum.

Read a review of the exhibit and see some of the photos on display in this L.A. Times article by Lynell George.

LA Times Article: Putting the 'Afro' back in 'Afro-Brasil.'

Excerpt:

"An estimated 3 million to 5 million Africans were brought to Brazil between the beginning of Portuguese colonization in the 1500s and 1888, when the South American giant became the world's last country to officially abolish slavery. That's roughly six to eight times as many as came to the United States. About half of Brazil's current population is classified as black, compared with around 12% of the United States'.

As director and founder of the ambitious 3-year-old museum, Araujo hopes that his institution will encourage Brazilians of all colors as well as foreigners to recognize how those slaves and their tens of millions of descendants have indelibly stamped their country's culture."

Read the full article here.