Clippings, patches, snippets and reports: browsing through LGBT+ memories

Fragments that compose the memories of the LGBT+ people in Brazil and the challenges they bring to our work at Acervo Bajubá while producing, mediating and circulating it.

Acervo Bajubá (2019) by Bruno O.Acervo Bajubá

What makes a document important for a collection?

In our projects, an issue turned into a persistent question: what makes a document recognized in a historical sense? The memories we seek to register are usually marginalized, censored, persecuted and with no recognition of their social, cultural and political value.

Acervo Bajubá (2020) by Bruno O.Acervo Bajubá

The 1st Brazilian Meeting of Homossexuals

Concerns with the LGBT+ memory are no novelty. In april 1980, the 1st Brazilian Meeting of Homossexuals took place in São Paulo. In that event, a social activist of Grupo Auê (Rio de Janeiro), proposed that actions for the memory were considered in the political agenda.

Lampião da Esquina (1980-05-24) by Centro de Documentação Prof. Dr. Luiz MottAcervo Bajubá

Preserving "gay memory"

According to Lampião da Esquina (May 1980), it was proposed that each present association implemented "gay memory" actions, thus avoiding the vanishing of interviews, newspaper and magazine clippings, records and testimonies of gays, lesbians and travestis.

Viva a Homossexualidade by Yuri FracaroliAcervo Bajubá

Yuri Fraccaroli talks about fragmented memories
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Fragmented Memories

Report to a "gay memory" leads to a problematic recognition of an unity amongst the memories of the different subjectivities which shape the "LGBT+ community". Thus, working with these memories means dealing with "fragmented memories". Listen to Yuri Fraccaroli about that idea.

I'm a Lesbian (1980) by Darcy PenteadoAcervo Bajubá

Remom Bortolozzi on the birth of the project
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The origins of Acervo Bajubá

Acervo Bajubá's first activities date back to 2010, when a group of interested researchers gathered to discuss the LGBT+ history and memories in Brazil. Listen to Remom Bortolozzi on the finding of a work-art in 2012 and its importance and meaning to the constitution of Bajubá.

Acervo Bajubá (2019) by Bruno O.Acervo Bajubá

Acquisition processes and challenges

Acervo Bajubá's collection is composed of items obtained in secondhand bookstores, auctions or donated by individuals or institutions. The acquisition of those items brings many challenges, such as how to work with found records with few information about its production.

Gay Fantasy by Acervo BajubáAcervo Bajubá

How do we look at those documents?

Mostly, we deal with documents usually considered with little to none historical value: fleeting records which draws on the strategies and tactics developed by different individuals to live their sexual orientations and/or gender identities and to occupy spaces in the society.

"Poetics of Life" book cover (2022) by Casa 1, Acervo Bajubá, and GIVAcervo Bajubá

Who produces the memories?

We consider the historical value of our documents and their potential as "triggers" for cultural processes and memory production. Thus, the memories which compose Acervo Bajubá are produced by subjectivities from the past and those that access them in the present time.

Manchete Magazine (1983)Acervo Bajubá

Records about sex and gender dissidents

Generally speaking, Acervo Bajubá's collection is composed of two types of records. The first one informs about the sex/gender dissidents, usually produced by the press or scientific studies, versing about their social practices and spaces, language and affective practices. 

Psicopatia da Sexualidade (2019) by Acervo BajubáAcervo Bajubá

Ian Guimarães Habib about MUTHA and the portrayal of transgender people on archives
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Dissidences as "threats"

Those documents usually reproduce violent speeches and prejudices, pointing to the different ways of living gender and sexuality as threats to be studied, cataloged, controlled and condemned. Listen to Ian Habib (MUTHA) on the ethical precautions when working with them.

As Vedetes, de Cassandra Rios (1980) by Acervo BajubáAcervo Bajubá

Records produced by dissident individuals

But other type of record is composed of those documents produced by the sex/gender dissidents. An example is the impressive production of literary works, such as the extensive work of Cassandra Rios, popularly consider the first to publish erotic novels about lesbian women.

A Queda para o Alto, de Anderson Herzer by Acervo BajubáAcervo Bajubá

Autobiographical writing

Beyond the fictional literature, autobiographies were a recurrent practice among the dissident individuals throughout the 20th century. In those books, they draw on experiences, representations, feelings and affections to produce their own meanings about their lives and past.

Essa tal criatura (Leci Brandão) (1979)Acervo Bajubá

Claudia Wonder Audio Library

We can also find records produced by the dissidents in the memories of Brazilian Popular Music. Claudia Wonder Audio Library is a music collection project that has already gathered more than a hundred items, such as Leci Brandão's vinyl "Essa tal criatura" (1980).

Opening of the first GIV headquarters (1990) by Acervo do Grupo de Incentivo à VidaAcervo Bajubá

The Fight Against Hiv/Aids Archive

Another ongoing project is the constitution of an archive focused on the spaces of the fight against Hiv/Aids. This project resulted in the collaboration with Grupo de Incentivo à Vida (GIV), an NGO that has been standing for the rights of people living with Hiv/Aids since 1990.

GIV Tape (2022) by Bruno O.Acervo Bajubá

Affective dimensions in the fight against Hiv/Aids     

In that pathway, one of the activities undertaken was the organization of GIV's institutional archive. More than the records of political mobilization, we found other layers of affective memories, such as cassette tapes with the songs that thrilled many of GIV's activities.

Yellow watercolor (poetry) (2013) by GGAcervo Bajubá

Passagem só de ida

Part of the collection constitution activities, in 2021 we developed the podcast "Passagem só de ida". In its episodes, we tell several stories of foreign and Brazilian LGBT+ people who migrated to São Paulo at some point in their lives. 

Bonekas Ano 1 Nº5 (1999)Acervo Bajubá

Gretta is not afraid of ghosts     

Another exercise was the search in Bajubá's collection of documents related to the narrated experiences by the episodes. As an example, Gretta Sttar narrated her presence on stage at the most important nightclubs of São Paulo; it was also registered in Bokenas (1999).

Me Perco (1986) by As MercenáriasAcervo Bajubá

Musical memories     

We also asked every interviewed to compose a playlist with the songs that deeply touched their memories. An amazing example is Leo Moreira Sá's musical memory, as he was the drummer of "As Mercenárias", a punk band that performed in many venues of São Paulo nightlife.

"Pride and Resistances: LGBT in the dictatorship" Exhibition (2021) by Julia Thompson and Marina LimaAcervo Bajubá

"Orgulho e Resistências" exhibition     

In 2021, Acervo Bajubá collaborated to "Orgulho e Resistências",  an exhibition about the relations between the authoritarianism and the sex/gender diversity in the civil-military dictatorship (1964-85), with some of our collection items and the production of public testimonies.

Three friends and several idols (memorial incompleto da epidemia de aids) (2021) by Casa 1 and Acervo BajubáAcervo Bajubá

Three friends and one idol
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Three friends and one idol

The public testimonies practice also guided the "incomplete aids epidemic memorial". In that project, we collected short audio in honor of people who lived with hiv and aids and passed away. Every recorded memory carries a visual representation of their remembrances. 

LGBTQ Memory 2 (2022) by NatanAcervo Bajubá

Florence Belladona Travesti about the Acervo Bajubá
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LGBT+ memories deal with structural issues which reflect in questions like the absence of historical records of trans, travesti and black people. As a closing of this exhibition, listen to Florence Belladonna Travesti's reflections on those absences in Acervo Bajubá.

Credits: Story

Curatorial Collective
Acervo Bajubá

Production
Bruno O., Marcos Tolentino and Yuri Fraccaroli

Complementary Research
Florence Belladonna Travesti and Remom Bortolozzi

Original artwork
Natan

Translation
Alberto Gomides (English) and Lufer Sattui (Spanish)

Acknowledgements
Grupo de Incentivo à Vida - GIV 

More information
Acervo Bajubá
Podcast Passagem só de ida
memorial incompleto da epidemia de aids
Laboratório de memórias











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The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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