Museu Afro Brasil

One of the best museums to learn about African history globally. I learnt many things about African history, culture, religions, art and their experience of getting enslaved and colonised. In particular this place deserves applause for promoting African art in brazil and highlighting the deep impact African culture has had on brazilian culture

I was absolutely blown away by this museum! I never imagined it was so amazing, with a huge and well curated collection and so much history. It is a place worth visiting, at least once. It is also very easy to park inside Ibirapuera Park, but you can also take Uber or public transportation. Worth a day off!

Unbelievably beautiful. A connection to history. A trip full of emotions. Very clean and organized, the entry cost me 15 R, the people are very kind and helpful. You can't take flash pictures and videos. The souvenir store has great things and prices.

Lots to see, the museum stretches onto three floors. Student discount available, even foreign students can show their national student IDs and get on rhe offer.

A museum that tells of the rich history of Afro-Brazilians. A beautiful display of artwork and history

The museum showcases large, multidisciplinary art pieces, offering a vibrant and rich exploration of Afro-Brazilian culture. It’s a great place to visit and experience this colorful heritage—I truly enjoyed it.

Interesting museum. It would be great if they had some English translations. The staff was super friendly and I would go there again.

This museum displayed many artwork by African artists in Brazil. It would be great if the museum could add English introductions or audio guide. Free admission on Wednesday.

This is a wonderful museum in a beautiful park. It's much larger than I expected. Many different types of art and it's put together very well. It spans many generations, subjects and regions. All of the placards are in Portuguese which is unfortunate for me since I don't speak or read it but I was still very happy I came and I was able to get the essence of each piece just through observing them.

This museum has an extensive collection of the Brazilian African history, with multiple floors and so much to take in. It's memorizing, and if you visit São Paulo it's a must for museum lovers. Situated in the park, it also makes for a good break from the outdoors if you like.

I was so excited to visit this museum. It actually is very large and you need more than a day to go through properly. The museum features are multidisciplinary, multidimensional, multimedia, and art form offering a very vibrant and rich inquiry of Afro Brazilian culture

Must do when in São Paulo! It's a beautiful museum in a gorgeous park with multiple exhibits of artists from the African diaspora. Some of the permanent collection also includes ancient artifacts from the continent itself such as weapons, royal items and even an Egyptian sarcophagus. The museum itself is 3 floors and includes a small library (not sure if this is open to the public, may be by appointment only) and is free on Wednesdays. I definitely recommend making time for it during your trip to SP and then walking around the park which has a lot to offer!

After a museum experience at MASP that ranks amongst the lowest I'd ever experienced I was struck with the realization that curating exhibits is an art that requires mad skill. Great exhibits must appeal on almost every sensory level and should leave the viewer recording little notes about things they want to research afterwards. The best museum exhibits open the mind and provide inspiration and Museu Afro Brasil (MAB) came quite close to achieving such a feat. From the moment I entered MAB I was transported by their excellent exhibit of the works of journalistic photographer Pierre Verger and how they inspired the work of Belgian cartoonist Hergé, the creator of the Tintin series. Even though the museum didn't cater to English speakers, the way this extensive exhibit was set up conveyed to me exactly what I believe it was meant to do. When Verger's images displayed the Sahara Desert, below them sat a Tintin book, opened to a page with a drawing clearly inspired by Verger. Sand strewn carefully on the floor completed the scene. I didn't need to understand Portuguese to make the connections. This big exhibit was both powerful and fun. So extensive and engaging was this collection that my attention span was practically tapped out by the time I reached the second floor. The second floor is almost shamefully loaded with riches. It took a while to find the exhibit I'd hoped to see (on the history of slavery in Brazil) and by the time I did my mental resources were depleted. There is simply more worth seeing in this museum than one can hope to see in a single visit (there is even one more floor loaded with yet another exhibit). As someone who doesn't speak Portuguese I was happy to note that the portion of the museum devoted to slavery has a free app, downloadable from itunes, that allows the user to scan different codes and images and thus conduct their own audio tour, in English, of the exhibit. Sadly, I had no headphones with me or I'd have gotten much more out of it. Though MAB's aim is to present the contributions of African descendants to the formation of Brazil's national identity they clearly go much further. With limited time and an even more limited attention span, MAB did a good job of just presenting me with a high-quality museum experience. There's a lot more here to learn and enjoy if someone has the time and energy to do so. Other stuff: * Free admission on Saturdays. * MAB is located in Parque Ibirapuera, a prime weekend spot for Sampas. Make a day of it. * The MAB edifice is designed by Brazil's most renowned architect, Oscar Niemeyer. * If you have time for only one museum I'd recommend MAB over MASP.

I enjoyed this museum much more than I was expecting to... Little (if any) of the descriptions of the pieces are in English, so you're forced to just experience the art and culture presented to you. This museum was huge and they showcase so many pieces reflecting and celebrating the influence of Africans and African culture to Brazil. From indigenous African pieces, to indigenous African-Brazilian pieces to modern art, there's something for everyone to appreciate. This place is worth it!

I want to start by saying that I believe I have an above average memory. I begin by talking about me because I had visited the museum before "about seven years back," and I honestly don't remember too much of the displays.* I attribute that the Museu being a living, breathing museum. Changing and adapting. For instance, I don't recall the bold message repeated in black and red on the side of the building. I translated it to mean, "Never again, will we work as slaves." That translation, or rather interpretation is from someone of descended from enslaved Africans. Someone else may translate it to simply mean, "Slave labor, never again." I was furthered moved by seeing Afro Brazilians of varied hues pose for pictures in front of this message. Other element which was new and news to me was the work of Sidney Amaral. Sadly, I got to appreciate Sidney Amaral's work just as I learned of his untimely death. Another Brazilian's work I enjoyed was that of Heitor do Prazeres. His work along with the works of Antonio Rafael Pinto Bandeira and the collection of mid 20th century album covers resulted in the most pictures taken by me. After seeing a picture Benjamin de Oliveira. I learned that there is a statue dedicated to O Palhaço Negro. A statue which was unfortunately vandalized, in 2017. That's a whole lot to unpack right there and I will do that some other time. In lighter news, I can know say that I am familiar with the music of Elsie Houston. She is someone presented as a famous Afro Brazilian which I would have never known of if it wasn't for this return visit. Though known as the Museu Afro Brasil, once entering, almost immediately, you see works from Haiti and Manuel Mandives de Cuba, and this shows you that the museum is very Diasporic in its approach. West African art and religious talisman are curated along with East African photographs. Lastly, my favorite element of the Museu Afro Brasil is that I believe it presents the African Diaspora in Brazilian terms. It is not like an African American museum from the U.S. translated into Portuguese, nor is it Black Museum spotlighting noteworthy Brazilian Afrodescendants. I believe the story is Brazilian's to tell and they tell it in their terms. I look forward to returning to see if the museum continues to grow and if more radical narratives presented. That is what keeps me from a 5 Star review. 4.5 stars for now and I will hopefully make it back sooner, rather than later. *When the ancestors speak, they speak. Vanity 6 "If A Girl Answers (Don't Hang Up)"

I went to Museu Afro Brasil with my cousin. We were in town visiting for a history conference. I had to check out Museu Afro Brasil because I worked so closely with Afro-Paraguayans while in the Peace Corps and as a Black American wanted to be cultured on our people in Brazil. First of all, the museum is nestled in a large park that gets a lot of use from its residents. That was lovely to see. The park offered so much to do outside and one can escape the heat inside Museu Afro Brasil which also offers public wifi. The museum provides a lovely introduction to the art, history and religion of Black people in Brazil. Candomble was well represented throughout the museum. I love learning about Candomble; yet this turns into my critique about the museum. It is very Candomble-heavy that other parts of Afro-Brazilian culture get drowned out and overshadowed. I think a few exhibits on Candomble is sufficient, yet let's explore some other aspects of Afro-Brazil. There is so much amazing art around Sao Paolo with Afro themes that I think the museum is missing out on those contemporary artists located throughout the city and country. I would love to go back to the museum and have more time to explore its rich collection.

One of Brazil's best museums on the country's cultural heritage and history - with a notably critical, non-idealized vision - either be prepared to spend much of the day there, or plan a second visit. When I went, I spent so much time in the temporary exhibit downstairs that I didn't even have time to see half of the long-term/permanent exhibits upstairs. To tell the truth, the only thing missing is some Yelp reviews by Brazilians on this museum.

Dense, colourful and evocative; this well-curated museum is well worth a visit (or two) for anyone looking to get some or better insight into Brazil's complex relationship with Africa and the slavery in it's not-so-distant past.

Great museum. I highly recommend visiting. Lots of history and culture. Plan to spend many hours here as there is a lot to see and learn.

If you love history and culture you'll love Museu Afro Brasil. I highly recommend checking it out when you have time.