Page 267 - The Secret Museum

SALVADOR DE BAHIA IS A dazzling coastal city. From the sixteenth to the eighteenth

century, it served as the capital of the General Government of the Portuguese colony.
Now it is hot and hectic, the host to a seemingly endless succession of festivals.

Once the Portuguese established themselves in Salvador they began to import
slaves from Africa. From the middle of the sixteenth to the middle of the nineteenth
century, around 4 million Africans were brought to Brazil as slaves. Salvador was
the principal point of arrival. It was the first sight of Brazil for millions of African
people, the first place the varied African cultures began to take new shape on
Brazilian soil. It is this culture that is the focus of the Afro-Brazilian museum in

Salvador.

A big feature of the museum is the religion of Candomblé, which means ‘dance in
honour of the gods’. It evolved as millions of people from different parts of Africa
began living together, as slaves, in Brazil. Of course, the Catholic Portuguese
suppressed it, so its evolution was shaped by secrecy, but it survived and now
flourishes throughout Salvador and Bahia.

In the storeroom of the museum is the curators’ much-loved statue of Exu, a god of
Candomblé. The curators excitedly led me into their archives, and pulled out a
sliding drawer. ‘Here is our Exu,’ they said, and looked at me for my reaction to the

little creature, with his big red mouth and tongue, who had popped out of storage to
say hello. I thought he was great!

In Bahian Candomblé there is one all powerful God, Oludumaré, who is served by
lesser deities called orixás (which means ‘owners of heads’ in the Yoruba language
of west Africa). Back in Africa, each area had its own orixá. In Bahia, all the gods
came together as people from different African nations lived alongside one another.
The hundreds of African orixás were reduced to just 27, 12 of whom were really
important. These 12 orixás are all over Salvador; they each have a day, a colour and

an area of life they are responsible for.
Exu is one of the most important orixás. He is in charge of movement,

communication, paths, crossroads and decisions, and is the main link between the
dead and the gods. He is vitally important: he is the animating force of human bodies
and, without him, life would not have begun.

People who follow Candomble believe that he lives outside their house, in the
street, and before any party or gathering in their home they make offerings to him to
make sure everything goes well. The 2 million people around the world who worship
the orixás do so through offerings, prayers and ceremonies. During a Candomblé
ceremony, orixás possess the people as they dance, drum and sing for days on end.

Offerings to Exu are the starting point of any Candomblé ceremony, to ensure its
success.

There are two representations of Exu on show in the museum. The first is a bronze
figure of him in his usual pose – with his penis sticking out, holding a three-pronged