Assistant Professor Mauricio Acuña participated in an event at the Fluminense Federal University (UFF), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he presented a talk on his current book project about Afro-Brazilian Intellectual Mestre Pastinha. His presentation will contribute to a broader conversation on the political and cultural meanings of the archive.
More than simply preserving documents, archiving also involves contesting narratives: decisions about what is kept, interpreted, or made accessible ultimately shape the histories that can be told. Reflecting on this perspective, the event proposes to discuss new ways of archiving and “unarchiving,” questioning the traditional authority of the archive’s guardians and opening space for more critical, plural, and undisciplined practices—what might be called the “anarchivization” of archives.
The discussion will bring together distinguished professors and researchers whose work spans multiple fields of knowledge. Topics such as modernisms, capoeira, fashion, and racism will be explored through an interdisciplinary dialogue connecting literature, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, and art history.
The event is organized by the research group Archive, Memory and Self-Narration (UFF), led by Professor Rodrigo Jorge Neves, and offers a valuable opportunity for intellectual exchange and collective reflection.