Acervo Bajubá
Address:
Antonio de Godoi, 122
Centro Histórico de São Paulo
São Paulo-SP, Brazil
Website
Social Media: @acervobajuba
The collection currently holds approximately 15000 items, ranging from photographs of nightlife, cabaret performances, and transformista shows to documents from early LGBTQIAPN+social movements in the country. The archive also preserves materials related to community responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, as well as erotic magazines, vinyl records, books, posters, press clippings, and other ephemera. Together, these items reveal the richness of LGBTQIAPN+cultural production and activism, highlighting the networks of sociability, resistance, and creativity that have shaped queer life in Brazil across different generations.
Antonio de Godoi, 122
Centro Histórico de São Paulo
São Paulo-SP, Brazil
Website
Social Media: @acervobajuba
About the archive
Acervo Bajubá is a community project dedicated to recording the memories of Brazilian LGBTQIAPN+communities. Its goal is to create a collection dedicated to the preservation, safeguarding, and historiographic study of LGBT+ art, memory, and culture. In addition to bringing together a collection of items that document sexual diversity and the plurality of gender expressions and identities in Brazil, Bajubá collaborates with exhibitions, training, and projects focused on the production, mediation, and circulation of narratives about the histories of LGBTQIAPN+people.
The collection currently holds approximately 15000 items, ranging from photographs of nightlife, cabaret performances, and transformista shows to documents from early LGBTQIAPN+social movements in the country. The archive also preserves materials related to community responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, as well as erotic magazines, vinyl records, books, posters, press clippings, and other ephemera. Together, these items reveal the richness of LGBTQIAPN+cultural production and activism, highlighting the networks of sociability, resistance, and creativity that have shaped queer life in Brazil across different generations.
Focus & Research
Acervo Bajubá focuses on the memory, cultural production, and political histories of LGBTQIAPN+ communities in Brazil. Its holdings emphasize dissident sexualities and gender identities,documenting and honoring the plurality of queer experiences while challenging erasures produced by structural violence and censorship. Guiding questions include:- How have travestis, trans women, and transformista performers shaped cultural life, particularly in nightlife and performance scenes?
- How have LGBTQIAPN+communities organized for rights and survival, especially during moments of crisis such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic?
- How can community-based archival practices preserve, interpret, and activate these histories while ensuring that the people who produced them remain central to their narration?
Residency details
Available period for archive visits: August 2026 to May 2027Duration on location: 2 to 4 weeks
What the archive offers:
Access to archival materials, databases, and catalogues; digital resources; scanners; technical and research support, curatorial guidance and creative input; introductions to the collection and its contexts; and other forms of assistance depending on the project needs.Workspace:
The archive room includes a dedicated area for consultation and reading, and additional tables are available if needed.Accessibility
- Elevator access
- Support for visually or hearing‑impaired visitors
- Quiet and low‑sensory spaces suitable for neurodiverse researchers
