Meet Kilombo da Arte, a cultural hub for black artists in Porto Alegre

From the need for a place where artistic work could thrive and proliferate through the streets of Porto Alegre, giving visibility to those who did not have it, Kilombo da Arte was born. The initiative was conceived by a collective of minds formed by Anna Maak, a visual artist, artisan and project coordinator; by the graphic artist, Kdoo Guerreiro, Prof. Edgar Quadros and Marietti Fialho, an artist and singer.

Kilombo da Arte is a socially managed cultural initiative that aims to provide better conditions for artists and social movements to carry out their projects. It also has an entrepreneurial side that makes the project autonomous, which most of the time works through the production of a line of products and personalized items such as t-shirts, mugs, jewelry, accessories and others.

The institution values ​​the promotion of cultural activities and also a humanitarian and social aid bias for less fortunate people. This help is given by collecting and delivering clothes, furniture and various utensils to people or families who have lost their homes or live on the streets.

Kilombo da Arte was established in 2004, through a series of actions carried out in the North Zone of Porto Alegre, capital of Rio Grande do Sul, between the Parque dos Maias, Santa Rosa and Nova Gleba neighborhoods. These actions became known as “Cultural Explosions”. After that, artists from other regions of the city were invited, while artists from the North Zone were taken to perform in other regions.

Currently, Kilombo da Arte operates in the Santo Antônio neighborhood, on the east side of Porto Alegre, very close to the downtown area. In this new location, the project manages to redirect some actions, such as the creation of a larger cultural space than in the North Zone, where the project began.

Before the pandemic, the space was open for free to artists and social movements, and operating expenses were paid through the sale of products that were created on site. But with the advance of coronavirus, Kilombo da Arte started to focus only on Afro-entrepreneurship activities and created a network of Afro-entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs in general, called “Feiras Livres Todos os Tons de Negro”, at no cost to exhibitors.

Kdoo Guerreiro mentioned, as the institution’s biggest challenge, the restrictions that happen when projects are taken to the street and end up being barred by the State bureaucracy. For example, to enable the execution of these projects in a more organic way, like the fair, they depend on authorization from the city hall. Even though it is zero cost for the city, accountability to regulatory bodies is required for brand exhibitions and sales to take place. At these fairs, the artist presents himself and, in return, he has a space reserved for selling his art, his product, his CD, his book, etc.

Kdoo also spoke about the importance of recycling and environmental preservation within the project.

“One of the focuses of Kilombo da Arte is environmental preservation. The project has very strict environmental policy characteristics. For example, the project receives donations of patchwork fabrics and with them we cover Bombê buttons, aluminum buttons to cover, cover with fabric, whose base has a white foot used in the manufacture of costume jewelry and accessories in general, reducing the disposal of this material in the nature, significantly reducing the environmental impact, in addition to being able to sell products at prices that are much more affordable for the population,” he said.

The project also works with a printing technique, known as sublimation, in the manufacture of t-shirts and, to reduce the disposal of the sheets that are used as transfer matrices, the folding technique is applied to them, which transforms them into bags used as packaging for t-shirts, which reduces costs, making the price of t-shirts and other products much more affordable.

Kdoo also commented on the numbers achieved by the institution. “Over the years of our existence, we have had a very expressive sum of people who were benefited from the Kilombo da Arte projects. In the social area, we serve around 150 families; in the cultural area, we have more than 200 participating artists and in the entrepreneurship branch, we serve 80 to 90 brands that are already consolidated in the market”, he concluded.

Did you identify with this initiative? Support Kilombo da Arte by ordering personalized products.

Contact: +55 (51) 98440-3019

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