Acknowledgments

This book would not have been possible without the collective ethical, political, and intellectual work of those who have engaged with the archives and legacy of Stella do Patrocínio. Their efforts have made this seemingly impossible act of restitution — of returning her words to the world — a reality.

Our deepest gratitude goes first and foremost to Carla Guagliardi, whose generosity in sharing Stella do Patrocínio’s materials and unwavering support have guided every step of this book’s creation. We are equally indebted to Anna Carolina Zacharias for her pioneering research into the life of Stella do Patrocínio, and for allowing us to incorporate materials into this volume, which she has gathered as part of her own work over many years.

We extend our profound thanks to the Bispo do Rosário Contemporary Art Museum, especially to Carolina Rodrigues de Lima, Diana Kolker Carneiro da Cunha, Geovana Melo, and Alexandre Trino for their invaluable assistance in providing research materials and institutional support.

Special recognition goes to Denise Corrêa de Almeida for her crucial insights and assistance, as well as to Marlene Iucksch Paula (in memoriam) and Jean-Marc Bouville for granting us access to their photographs of Stella do Patrocínio.

We are also grateful for the direct and indirect contributions of Jessica Gogan, Tania Rivera, Sara Ramos, Natasha Felix, Márcio Rolo, Conrado Krivochein (archival Beginning of page[p. viii] reproductions), Mônica Ribeiro de Souza, Delfina Cabrera, Lorena Avellar de Muniagurria, Elena Vogman, Yvonne Sembene, and Regina Alfarano — each of whom enriched this project in meaningful ways.

At ICI Berlin Press, we thank the devoted editorial team — Louisa Elderton, Manuele Gragnolati, Christoph Holzhey, Claudia Peppel, and Silke Schwarz — for their meticulous work and commitment to such a complex and unusual undertaking.

This publication was made possible through the generous support of the Freigeist Fellowship from the Volkswagen Foundation, which funds the research project Madness, Media, Milieus: Reconfiguring the Humanities in Postwar Europe at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.

Finally, but most importantly, we would like to thank Stella do Patrocínio. We would also like to acknowledge and thank the many residents of Colônia Juliano Moreira, some of whom appear in the photographs included here, for their contribution to and role in this project. Though their subjectivity and freedom was broadly erased by the many institutions that imprisoned them, they often participated in moments of shared creativity within the art workshops conducted by Carla Guagliardi and her fellow artists: indeed, it was during these workshops that Stella do Patrocínio’s falatório was recorded. These images offer glimpses into scenes of expression, dignity, and collective engagement that counter the reductive gaze of the institution by which they were surveilled and confined without consent.

It was not possible to secure explicit permission from those portrayed, as many of these individuals are now deceased and their relatives could not be located. We have therefore approached the inclusion of these photographs through a process of careful ethical reflection and a Beginning of page[p. ix] commitment to avoiding any symbolic reproduction of the institutional violence enacted upon these people. In cases where personal identification was possible, the names of those portrayed have been included in the image captions by way of acknowledging their personhood. It is in the spirit of acknowledgement, and in opposition to the erasure enacted by the institution, that we include these images of Stella do Patrocínio and her fellow residents at Colônia Juliano Moreira. We thank them once again for making this book possible.