Sesc Rio de Janeiro invites you to the opening of the exhibition "Da Kutanda ao Quitandinha – 80 anos" on December 1, 2023, starting at 10:00 AM. The exhibition marks the beginning of the 80th-anniversary celebrations for the venue, which opened in 1944 as a hotel-casino and now houses the Sesc Quitandinha Cultural Center. Curated by Marcelo Campos, the expansive exhibition is organized into six sections, tracing a narrative that begins in the 18th century with the earliest records of Black presence in the Freguesia de Nossa Senhora de Inhomirim—the foundation of the region's settlement—via the Piabanha River and the plantations that relied on enslaved labor, ultimately giving rise to the city now known as Petrópolis.
The exhibition initially highlights the technologies introduced by Africans, their leadership, and the quitanda—a market stall located on the site of the current Quitandinha—which was operated by Black women and played a significant role in the 19th-century economy. The term is derived from the Kimbundu words kitanda ("market") and kutanda ("to go far"), a language spoken in Angola, the origin of many Africans who form the large Afro-Brazilian population. Several contemporary artists are featured in this section. In another segment, Anna Bella Geiger (1933) takes center stage, with a documentary produced specifically for the exhibition and works that were part of the 1st Abstract Art Exhibition in 1953.
