Pajubá dictionary

Páscoa, 2023

Brown clay tiles

     Out of the people who, due to widespread precarity in Europe, decided to migrate to Brazil in the 19th century many were queer.

            The LGBTQ+ people were, unsurprisingly, unwelcome at most public gatherings, including the masses organized by the Catholic Church. Due to this, many queer people found refuge in Afro religious communities across the country. 

            In the terreiros of candomblé (holy place) prayers were sung in West African languages, especially Yoruba. Due to this, over time, the queer community started to recontextualize Yoruba terms and expressions. Thus, a LGBTQ+ dialect emerged which is referred to as Pajubá, or in some case Bajubá.

            Pajubá has been used by queer people to identify each other, especially when it came to alerting each other of danger or sharing compromising information. It is also used casually and some terms have even become slang beyond just the queer community.

            This project explores new forms of visual and cultural syncretisms through type design and decorative tile making. This choice of medium is a reference to Brazil’s tiling tradition, a product of portuguese colonization.

Processes and Iterations of the project:

Sketches

Experiments with clay

First Iteration