A Mulher Negra na Cultura Visual de Portugal Colonial
Bruna Chichavel
This project investigates the impact of racist representations of Black women in Portuguese visual culture of the colonial period. It seeks to understand how editorial design can contribute, politically and pedagogically, to a critical and conscious reading of these images.
The research includes the survey and analysis of colonial illustrations, organized into a Visual Chronology. From this process, a three-level visual methodology was developed — descriptive, formal and critical — applied in an editorial object titled Visual Manual.
The Visual Manual combines image and text to show how design can reveal and transform visual systems of oppression, through dialogue between historical image, contemporary intervention and colonial memory.
The aim is to create an educational editorial object that works as an awareness tool and promotes the appreciation of the Black community.
Imprint / Technical Rider:
Year: 2026
Dimensions: Visual Manual 175 × 235 mm · Visual Chronology A1 (594 × 841 mm) folded to A4; 160 pages
Materials: Visual Chronology: tracing paper, A1 format. Visual Manual: recycled paper 80 g/m².
Production and finishing: Printed by Norcópia. The artifacts are kept in a pouch; the Visual Chronology includes a digital version accessible via QR code.
Resources and credits: Typefaces designed by Black designers: Format_1452 by Tré Seals; Grotesk by Frank Adebiaye and Ariel Martín Pérez; Halyard Display by Darden Studio.
Curricular Unit:
Dissertation/Project/Internship (2nd year) — Project
Supervisor: Cristina Ferreira
Co-supervisor: Margarida Dias
Keywords: Visual Culture, Illustration, Black Movement, Black Women
See this project in the Material Archive interactive archive →