Between the Pharaoh and the Orisha

The Egypt-Yoruba Connection in the Centenary of Abolition and in the Visual Art of Abdias Nascimento

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.9771/aa.v0i70.58814

Keywords:

Ancient Egypt, Yorubas, Afrocentrism, Pan-Africanism

Abstract

This paper discusses the association between Egyptian and Yoruban elements, what I call the “Egypt-Yoruba connection”, in discourses on Afro-Brazilian identity in two specific contexts. One is the 1988 celebrations surrounding the centenary of Brazil’s abolition of slavery, with public performances in Rio de Janeiro and Bahia. The second is the representation of this topic in the visual art of Brazilian intellectual, politician and artist Abdias Nascimento. Strongly influenced by Pan-Africanism, his work allows us to reflect over the specificity of Brazilian readings of Afrocentric ideas. Indeed, Brazilian ideas about an Egyptian-Yoruba connection appear to be far from Egyptology (as a scientific domain) and closer to artistic expressions and political activism.

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Published

2025-03-12

How to Cite

DA SILVA FRANCISCO, G. Between the Pharaoh and the Orisha: The Egypt-Yoruba Connection in the Centenary of Abolition and in the Visual Art of Abdias Nascimento. Afro-Ásia, Salvador, n. 70, p. 292–331, 2025. DOI: 10.9771/aa.v0i70.58814. Disponível em: https://revbaianaenferm.ufba.br/index.php/afroasia/article/view/58814. Acesso em: 28 sep. 2025.

Issue

No. 70 (2024)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Gilberto da Silva Francisco

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

 

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