Knowing the history of Thebes is ‘seeing yourself in the reading of the landscape of São Paulo’, says researcher | Black consciousness

“Research on Thebes, for me, has to do with this reading of the landscape of São Paulo, since I entered the black literature movement. I began to develop a series of narratives about the city of São Paulo, so that with each new There is information in this reading about who we are, as a population of African and indigenous descent. A population that rarely appears in the narratives present in the São Paulo landscape or in the big cities, “says Abílio, a researcher on the history of Thebes.

In Black Awareness Week, the G1 publishes the special series “What unites us”. The reports resemble important black and white characters in Brazilian history, through the gaze of people inspired by them or who have similar trajectories.

Organizer and co-author of the book “Thebes: a black architect in São Paulo slavery” (2019), Abílio recalls that, after the proclamation of the Republic, a project was started to make a “European São Paulo”. The idea was to promote the oblivion of Brazil’s slave past. “Tebas goes with this process,” says Abílio.

Today, the movement is going in the opposite direction, and the legacy of the enslaved architect begins to be recognized more than two centuries after his death in 1811. So much so that, in 2018, he was professionally recognized by the Union of Architects of the State of São Paul. , based on official documents compiled by the National Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN).

“Thebes comes from Santos, a city where there was a lot of stone, and comes to another city where there was no stone, a city built entirely of clay, as was the case in São Paulo. Your presence here, a specialist in stonework, is something innovative. That is why Tebas will promote the renovation of architecture mainly on the facades of the churches ”, says Abílio.

According to the writer, it is at this moment that Thebes becomes the protagonist. Still still enslaved, he becomes the leader of the works, processes and companies in which he participates. Shortly after, he manages to be released in a lawsuit against his owner’s widow.

Abílio remembers how he began to let himself be influenced by the environment and to see himself as black in society. “I, a young man, grew up in the periphery, in the 70s, in the middle of the military dictatorship, but also in the rise of soul music, black bars, with the fight for civil rights in the USA and the independence of African countries … There is the foundation, a collective phenomenon of Brazilian black literature, and that’s when I enter ”, says Abílio.

He joined the Quilombhoje Literatura group from 1984 to 1990 and reconciled the careers of writer and journalist. “This, combined with this black from the periphery at that time, made me develop a look at the city of São Paulo that combines historiographic research with imagination,” he recalls.

He learned about Thebes for the first time when he started working as a communication advisor for the Subprefecture of Cidade Tiradentes, in the Eastern Zone. “There they had a process called Week of Science, Technology and Education of Thebes, since 2005. And from there I began to look for more information about the character,” he says.

One of the most famous works by Joaquim Pinto de Oliveira was a fountain, which had a primary function for the city 200 years ago. It was the first public water collection point in São Paulo. “This work became known as Chafariz do Tebas. My hypothesis is that it received this nickname of Thebes because of the popularity reached by the source ”, supposes Abílio.

“The legacy of Thebes for the activity of architecture lies mainly in the stylistic renewal that it promoted in the architecture of the 18th century in São Paulo”, says researcher Abílio Ferreira.

A curiosity about the Church of the Third Order of Carmen, before which the writer spoke with G1, is that another black man was closely related to the ornamentation of the temple. Father Jesuíno do Monte Carmelo painted several works in the church, the main one being the huge painting on the ceiling of the nave. Despite this, he is aware of a fact.

“Although these black authors are here in the history of this church, the only black figure that we find here represented on the walls is the patron saint of Brazil, Nossa Senhora Aparecida,” he says.

Thanks to: Emanoel Araújo, artist and author of ‘A Mão Afro-Brasileira’; the Church of the Third Order of Carmen, Thiago Andrade; the researcher Heloísa Pires (USP); colleagues Marcelo Brandt and Clara Velasco.

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