Quão branco as coisas e os lugares são?: uma análise sobre a exposição Ceará: História no Plural

Abstract

How white are things and places? An analysis of the exhibition Ceará: History in the Plural is a work that arises from the intersection of Sociology, Museology, and Ethnic-Racial Relations. The research field was an institution, on the verge of becoming a century old, the Museum of Ceará (MUSCE). The object of the research is its long-term exhibition, Ceará: History in the Plural, and the racial issues present within it. Reflecting on the place given to Afro-Cearenses in the museum institution, from the perspective of Brazilian historical and social formation, and the delayed colonization in Ceará are some of the elements this research presents to reflect on the processes of racialization in the Land of Light, where the narrative that there are no Black people in Ceará still lingers in people’s minds. The concepts that structure this work are: the coloniality of power, by Anibal Quijano (2005, 2007), where race is a structuring aspect of a new global power that strengthens structures of domination and inequality that emerged during colonialism; the museum, as defined by the International Council of Museums (ICOM, 2022), a space for knowledge, research, and exchange; and epistemicide, by Sueli Carneiro (2005), which acts in the erasure and elimination of non-Eurocentric knowledge. The research employs a qualitative methodology, which sought to explore bibliographic and historical sources in an attempt to reconstruct the institution's and exhibition’s past. Interviews were also conducted in order to capture the development of Ceará: History in the Plural over the years. Our hypothesis is that there is a need for a reevaluation of the stories told and the voices heard, aiming for a more inclusive and equitable space for the whole society.