I am Suelen Calonga, an artist, researcher, and educator whose work challenges colonial legacies and reclaims African diasporic narratives. I was born and raised in Contagem, Brazil, but I am based now in Berlin, Germany, with my husband and our son (*2022). As a practioner of Ifá oracular science and priestess of Osun in the Lese Orisa cult, I bring spirituality to the center of my academic and artistic practices, emphasizing the importance of ancestral knowledge and cultural heritage.

Currently pursuing a PhD in Art History at TU Berlin, Germany, supervised by Dr. Prof. Benedicte Savoy and co-supervised by Dr. Prof. Félix Ayoh-Omidire at Obafemi Awololo University at Ile-Ife, Nigeria, I explore the formation of European museum collections as spaces that perpetuate colonialism while advocating for the decolonization of traditional knowledge and practices. My academic and artistic work spans Brazil, West Africa, and Europe, tracing the spiritual, political and cultural trajectories of African-diasporic heritage collected in Brazil and kept for more than a century in Germany and their stories. 

I also hold a master's in Public Art and New Artistic Strategy from Bauhaus-Univerisity Weimar, where I defended my thesis "Why do the Archives Archive? A journey from the hunkó to the counter-ethongraphy and back" in 2020. I graduated in Social Comunication in Puc Minas, and have a diploma in Images and Media Cultures from UFMG, both in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

In 2018, I founded Calonga Arte e Cultura, a microenterprise dedicated to offering workshops, courses, comissioned/independent researches, and curatorial services. Through this platform, I produce educational and artistic content that fosters critical reflection and creative engagement with African-Brazilian culture and counter-colonial strategies.

As a Black woman, mother, daughter, and granddaughter, my practice is deeply rooted in the metonymies between the personal and the collective, bridging art, education, and activism to reimagine the ways we connect with the past to build a self-determined future.

Member of:
ASWAD - Association for the Study of Worldwide African Diaspora
SARA - Society for Artistic Research

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Suelen Calonga

I am an artist, researcher and educator dedicated to challenging colonial legacies and reclaiming African diasporic narratives while promoting counter-colonial approaches to art and knowledge.