Several examples of joias de crioula or creole jewelry are featured in the exhibition Axé Bahia: The Power of Art in an Afro-Brazilian Metropolis. Since the 18^th century, these chains of gold and charms of silver have adorned African-descendant women—freed and enslaved—in Salvador, Bahia, where they serve as expressions of social and religious freedom in an otherwise colonized existence. Learn more about these special pieces in a gallery talk by Curatorial and Research Assistant Sarah K. Chenault.

Sarah K. Chenault

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About the Exhibition

Axé Bahia: The Power of Art in an Afro-Brazilian Metropolis, explores the distinctive cultural role of the city of Salvador, the coastal capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia and an internationally renowned center of Afro-Brazilian culture. Featuring more than 100 works from the mid-20th century to the present, including a stunning array of sculpture, painting, photography, video, and installation art, the exhibition explores the complexities of race and cultural affiliation in Brazil, and the provoca­tive ways in which artists have experienced and responded creatively to prevailing realities of Afro-Brazilian identity in Bahia.

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