Based on the book published by Olivette Otele in 2020, this symposium is designed as a conversation to address the challenges and problems surrounding the artistic and architectural patronage of African and Afro-descendant people and/or communities during the Ancien Régime in Portugal. In this regard, there are themes and questions that have remained hidden behind what is currently considered Portuguese National Heritage. The presence of African Europeans is not only an untold millennial history of Europe. It is also a history of European art, architecture and music that ignores some of its protagonists. We will address the false equation that excludes patrons, financiers and agents of African origin or descent in the construction of European heritage in the modern era.
Recommended reading:

Olivette Otele, African Europeans. An untold history, London: Hurst & Company, 2020 [Portuguese ed. by Presença, 2021].

Organisers: Giuseppina Raggi e Antonieta Reis Leite (CES-UC)