Black Lights is an experience that reveals itself in front of the public through the power of print. Forgotten stories emerge from darkness through the use of black light in a metaphor that speaks to ancestrality and resilience.

We brought back 4 millennia of black history and denounced the historical erasure caused by racism in the pages of a book that had also seemingly been erased. A book entirely printed on special invisible ink that, when in contact with black light, reveals all its beauty and content.We also created special posters that ended up being part of an art exhibition.

Brazil, the country with the second-largest black population in the world and the largest outside the African continent, is also a country where black people are relegated to erasure: they make up 80% of violent deaths and 70% of school dropouts. That’s a problem that affects the past, jeopardizes the future, and has been carried out deliberately and systematically throughout our past.

While black people have made major contributions to any number of fields, their stories are often left out of the official narrative. And that means that many people never learn the names of the black inventors, scientists, philosophers, and other geniuses who changed the course of humanity. By shedding light on their achievements and contributions, this project seeks to fill that lacuna in history.

Since history is one of the greatest heritages of humanity, Bradesco Seguros, the leading insurance company in Brazil and Latin America, developed Black Lights. A project dedicated not only to recovering black culture and historical heritage erased by racism, but also designed to be an inspirational force for the future. The project was developed with Project Goma, a hub dedicated to accelerating the careers of black professionals, and resonates with the movements calling for systemic antiracist change, and Museu Afro-Brasileiro in Salvador, a crowning symbol of its relevance, legitimacy, and the importance of the preservation and celebration of black culture in the city with the largest black population outside of Africa.The project was invited to become part of the permanent collection of the Museum.

• Situation

Brazil, the country with the largest black population outside the African continent, is also a country where black people are relegated to erasure: they make up 80% of violent deaths and 70% of school dropouts.A problem that dates back to the dawn of humanity,violates the constitutional right to memory and robs an entire people of their most precious possession: their history.

• Brief

Bradesco Seguros, the leading insurance company in Brazil and America Latina, believes that people's history is a precious heritage that must be secured. So,how can Bradesco help to recover and protect Black History (which is everybody's history) in order to recover the past and inspire the future?

• Objectives

● CELEBRATE the names of notable black people ignored by history.

● SHOW that historical erasure is a product of racism.

● INSPIRE future generations and grab people's attention.

● COLLABORATE with partners from black communities.

We recovered 4 millenia of black history through more than 5,800 hours of reading, research, illustration and curatorial work. The project offers up new perspectives on black history, helping to break away from the obvious and further enrich the community’s legacy. One sign of that is that the names erased from history will be celebrated in the permanent collection of the Museu Afro-Brasileiro em Salvador, the city with the largest black population outside Africa. The exposition has already been on display for 440+ hours, and will keep on inspiring educators, students, historians and the general public.

For Bradesco Seguros, in addition to its reputation as a brand with strong social values, this has been an opportunity to show that it’s dedicated to protecting all of its clients’ assets – of which their history is perhaps the most precious.