Axé Bahia: The Power of Art in an Afro-Brazilian Metropolis

Axé Bahia explores the unique cultural role of the city of Salvador, the coastal capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia and one of the oldest cities in the Americas. In the 1940s, Salvador emerged as an internationally renowned center of Afro-Brazilian culture, and it remains to this day an important hub of African-inspired artistic practices in Latin America. 

The Fowler will present the most comprehensive exhibition in the U.S. to date of the African-inspired arts of Bahia, featuring the work of well-known modernists such as Pierre Verger and Carybé, as well as contemporary artists such as Ayrson Heráclito and Caetano Dias. Including more than 100 works from the mid-20th century to the present, the exhibition will explore the complexities of race and cultural affiliation in Brazil and the ways in which influential artists have experienced and responded creatively to the realities of Afro-Brazilian identity in Bahia.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.