Bandits & Heroes: New Exhibit at the Sioux City Public Museum

The Sioux City Public Museum has a new exhibit opening Saturday, May 25th, about Brazilian culture, called "Bandits & Heroes" and I'm excited to tell you more about it. On a recent visit to the Sioux City Public Museum, I got to talk to Matt Anderson, Curator of History at the Sioux City Public Museum a bit about the exhibit. According to information from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Matt and the other Sioux City Public Museum staff members had to unpack over 6000 pounds of art, artifacts, information, and other exhibit materials from more than 20 crates to set up the over 2,000 square feet of the Bandits & Heroes Exhibit! Matt sent this sneak peek I can share with you of the new exhibit under construction:

Installment in Progress!

The exhibit focuses on the culture and people of northeast Brazil, where African slaves, indigenous people, and European settlers blended their lives and cultures together, sometimes tumultuously, and that convergence led to the rich culture Brazil is home to today. The Bandits & Heroes exhibit will include 2d and 3d art as well as music and video, and is divided into three parts:

• The Land & Its People
• This part of the exhibit focuses on colonial Brazil, including African slaves, vaquieros, migrant workers, and more. 
• Expressions of Faith
• This part of the exhibit focuses on the blend of African and South American indigenous faiths with the Roman Catholicism brought by the Portuguese, with a particular focus on Candomble
• Poetry, Celebration, & Song
• This part of the exhibit focuses on the folk music, poetry, and sculpture that arose from the convergence of cultures in northeast Brazil

Heroes & Bandits is scheduled to be on display at the Sioux City Public Museum through August 11th. The Sioux City Public Museum is planning a variety of learning events in conjunction with the exhibit, and I will be sure to share more with you as details become available, and I will post more pictures of the exhibit once it opens! The events currently planned include:

• Moro No Brasil Film Excerpts & Discussion
• Tuesday, June 25th at 6:30pm
• Tastes and Sounds of Brazil
• Thursday, July 11th from 6-8pm at the Blue Cafe
• The War of the Saints Book Discussion
• Tuesday, July 23rd at 6:30pm
• Exhibit Tour with Matt Anderson
• Thursday, August 8th at 12:05pm

Heroes & Bandits is an exhibit from the National Endowment for the Humanities' NEH on the Road program. You can find out more about the exhibit itself on the Heroes & Bandits website.

The Sioux City Public Museum is located in downtown Sioux City at 607 4th Street, and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10am to 5pm and Sundays from 1pm to 5pm. Admission is free to the museum itself and to the Bandits & Heroes exhibit.