“REPARATIONS”: WILL A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE HAVE TO BE HISTORICALLY JUST?
Curated by Ângela Benoliel Coutinho
December 15th, 2025 – 6 pm
Guest speakers: Rui Vieira Nery, Cristina Sá Valentim, Júlio Brechó
Hangar – Centro de Investigação Artística
For centuries, the relationships between European states and African peoples were marked by aggression on multiple levels, including the deportation and enslavement of millions of people, the dismantling of institutions, and the looting and destruction of objects, artefacts, and various materials.
What remained was the body, the voice, and the energy of each human being — something that cannot be fully controlled or silenced.
Like other peoples living under oppression, Africans and Afro-descendants profoundly invested the expression of their creative energy and their commitment to the joy of living into their musical and dance bodies, and into their individual and collective performances.
The legacy of African and Afro-descendant expressive practices carries an artistic quality that is increasingly recognised in many parts of the world and among diverse audiences, as they embody an undeniable spiritual and psychic force.
In this first roundtable, we will discuss the conditions under which these expressive practices have existed and manifested in Portugal, as well as the initiatives that may be considered reparative.
Ângela Benoliel Coutinho obtained her PhD in History of Contemporary Black Africa from the University of Paris I – Panthéon Sorbonne, in 2005, which resulted in the work Os dirigentes do PAIGC (1956-1980), published by the University of Coimbra Press. She was a lecturer in universities in Cape Verde and France, and has participated in the organization of several international colloquia and seminars. She was a scientific coordinator or researcher in projects funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology of Portugal (FCT), Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, CODESRIA (Senegal) and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation (Germany). She has published in Oxford University Press, and in indexed journals such as REF and Afrika Zamani, with a total of 17 publications dedicated to the struggle for the independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde.
She has also collaborated with civil society institutions in projects to safeguard the historical-cultural heritage, namely with the Amílcar Cabral Foundation and António Canuto Foundation (Cape Verde), with CIDAC (Portugal) and with the “Cape Verde Jewish Heritage Project” (USA), through funding from the World Monuments Fund and BREDA-UNESCO. She is co-author of the “Cinema Debate Amílcar Cabral” project (2022). Since 2021 she has been the author of African History programs in RDP-África (Portugal) and in 2025 she was the scientifical curator of the exhibition “Cabo Verde United Nations 50+”.
Julio Brechó is an artist, musician, producer, and cultural activist with a diverse background and a trajectory marked by the fusion of cultures. He studied Cultural Production and Events at EAT Luis Carlos Ripper and CETEP Adolfo Bloch, attended the Escola de Teatro CETEP Quintino, and was part of Escola de Teatro Nós do Morro, a renowned cultural project in the Vidigal favela in Rio de Janeiro. This training not only connected him deeply with the performing arts and event production but also gave him a solid foundation to carry forward the appreciation of Afro-descendant culture. Julio built his path between Brazil, the Netherlands, and now Portugal, maintaining a strong connection to the Afro-Brazilian roots of samba and Carnival.
As a guide, speaker, and coordinator in the Carnaval Experience project, in partnership with the escola de samba Acadêmicos do Grande Rio, Julio immersed himself in the rich history of Carnival and the storylines that highlight African heritage. He lived for three years in the Little Africa region, in Gamboa, and delved into Afro-Brazilian narratives to share them through cultural tours, revealing the historical connection between Africa and Brazil. Currently in Lisbon, he acts as a living bridge between Afro-Brazilian traditions and the Portuguese cultural scene, bringing the authenticity of Brazilian street culture to the streets of Lisbon. Through initiatives such as Lisbloco and Samba Colaborativo, Julio reaffirms the importance of experiencing culture in the streets in a genuine way, celebrating Afro-descendant contributions to both samba and Carnival.
Cristina Sá Valentim is a social and cultural anthropologist and a researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Lisbon. She is also a visiting professor at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research at the University of Coimbra. Drawing on anthropology, history, ethnomusicology, cultural studies and postcolonial studies, her research has focused on traditional Angolan music, African colonial forced labour, heritage, the environment and historical reparations. She has conducted fieldwork in Portugal and Angola. She is currently coordinating the ‘Archives of Lived Songs’ project (CEEC-FCT), which focuses on sound and musicological collections produced in rural Angola during the period of Portuguese colonial rule. In 2022, she published the book Sounds of the Empire, Voices of Cipale. Cokwe Songs and Memories of Forced Labor in the Lundas, Angola (Luanda: FAAN). This book is the result of her doctoral thesis, which was awarded the ‘Agostinho Neto’ International Prize for Historical Research.