The Cultural Preservation Center of USP/Casa de Dona Yayá will explore urban archaeology, black memory, cultural expressions, and cultural heritage management in the urban space of the São Paulo region known as Bixiga.
The II Bixiga Seminar: Cultural Territory is organized in collaboration with two social movements that have been at the forefront of memory resistance and opposition to the transformation of the heritage neighborhood: Mobiliza Estação Saracura Vai-Vai (advocating for the legacy of Quilombo do Saracura and the preservation of the archaeological site in Metro Line 6, Bixiga) and Salve Saracura (a multidisciplinary collective caring for the waters and territory of the neighborhood).
The event will take place from November 28 to 30 with the support of the Research and Training Center of SESC, where the roundtable discussions on November 28 and 29 will be held. The discussion on November 30 and the closing ceremony will take place at Casa de Dona Yayá, the headquarters of CPC-USP.
The activities will be in-person, and participation is free, with on-site registration.
About Bixiga
A region in the central area of São Paulo marked by the strong presence of people of various origins (Italians, Blacks, Northeasterners, among others) and diverse cultural references, Bixiga was designated a heritage neighborhood by Resolution 22-2002 of the Municipal Council for the Preservation of Historical, Cultural, and Environmental Heritage of the City of São Paulo (Conpresp), ensuring the preservation of its road layout and a list of significant real estate assets.
Nevertheless, there has been a historical dispute between preservation movements and the real estate market in the region. The construction of large developments threatens not only the geomorphology but also the everyday life practices in the landscape, erasing corners, theaters, and memories, in a process of gentrification that displaces the low-income population that shaped the neighborhood’s profile.
Recently, the arrival of Metro Line 6 led to the demolition of landmarks such as the headquarters of the Vai-Vai Samba School in Praça 14 Bis. Excavations revealed hundreds of pieces and fragments of ceramics, utensils, and clothing, constituting archaeological traces of the Saracura Quilombo, one of the capital’s main quilombos that existed between the 19th and early 20th centuries. This discovery sparked a new dispute between the progress of the metro works and grassroots movements advocating for the preservation of the neighborhood’s memory.
Other conflicts were already evident in 2017 when CPC-USP held the first edition of the “Bixiga: Cultural Territory” seminar. At that time, discussions revolved around the construction of a major real estate development negatively impacting the neighborhood and the demand for the expropriation of the land on Rua Jaceguai, next to the Teatro Oficina building and near Casa de Dona Yayá, to create Bixiga Park. The project was approved by the City Council but has not yet materialized.
Professor Flávia Brito do Nascimento, from the School of Architecture, Urbanism, and Design at USP and director of CPC-USP, emphasizes the institution’s historical relationship with neighborhood movements in Bixiga. “Since the CPC moved to Casa de Dona Yayá in the early 2000s, successive administrations have made significant connections with themes, places, and residents through exhibitions, seminars, heritage education activities, guided tours, among others. The second edition of the Bixiga Seminar: Cultural Territory continues the discussions from 2017, focusing on the heritage theme and its multiple layers of disputes and disagreements, urgently linked to the metro works and archaeological findings connected to the black memory of the neighborhood,” she says.
Service
II Bixiga Seminar: Cultural Territory
■ 11/28 (Tuesday)
5:00 PM | Opening
5:15 PM | Panel 1: Quilombo and heritage
Guests: Alessandra Ribeiro (Jongo Dito Ribeiro Community), Fábio Velame (UFBA), Vanessa Pereira (Iphan). Moderation: Claudia Balthazar (Saracura/Vai-Vai)
7:15 PM | Panel 2: Archaeology and diaspora
Guests: Jeanne Crespo (Iphan), Monica Lima (UFRJ), Paty Marinho (Saracura/Vai-Vai). Moderation: Marília Calazans (Saracura/Vai-Vai)
Location: Research and Training Center of SESC
Rua Dr. Plínio Barreto, 285 – Bela Vista – São Paulo-SP
■ 11/29 (Wednesday)
5:00 PM | Launch of the CPC-USP Cultural Heritage Photography Contest – 2nd Edition: Bixiga
5:15 PM | Panel 3: Housing and cultural heritage
Guests: Gisele Brito (Saracura/Vai-Vai), Vivian Barbour (OAB-SP), Welita Caetano (FLM). Moderation: Claudia Muniz (Salve Saracura)
7:15 PM | Panel 4: Preservation instruments and urban policy
Guests: Cleiton Ferreira-Fofão (Quilombaque), Danielle Dias de Santana (UFRJ), Mariana Pessoa (USP). Moderation: Gabriel Fernandes (CPC-USP)
Location: Research and Training Center of SESC (CPF–SESC)
Rua Dr. Plínio Barreto, 285 – Bela Vista – São Paulo-SP
■ 11/30 (Thursday)
5:15 PM | Panel 5: Samba and safeguarding intangible heritage
Guests: André Felipe (GRCES Vai-Vai), Claudia Alexandre (Saracura/Vai-Vai), João Mário Machado (Casa do Samba de Bumbo), Nilcemar Nogueira (Museu do Samba). Moderation: Marília Belmonte (Saracura/Vai-Vai)
7:00 PM | Closing
Special participation: Velha Guarda da Escola de Samba Vai-Vai
Location: Cultural Preservation Center – Casa de Dona Yayá
Rua Major Diogo, 353 – Bela Vista – São Paulo-SP