Registry of Identity Restoration

During the colonization of Brazil, enslaved African populations suffered a systematic erasure of their identities. Their original names were forcibly replaced by European surnames or names linked to Christianity, such as Silva, Santos, and de Jesus. Aiming to redress this violence, Bill No. 803/2011, authored by Congressman Nelson Pellegrino, proposes altering public records to allow for the inclusion of African and Indigenous surnames; however, the proposal has been stalled in the Senate since 2014. In response to this institutional inertia, the performance Registry of Identity Restoration emerges. For this piece, the artist developed an Artificial Intelligence agent powered by extensive historical research, cataloging over 8,000 surnames of Yoruba, Bantu, and Indigenous origin, including their etymologies and cultural meanings. Acting as a performative mediator, the artist uses this tool to interview audience members, mapping their personal values and desires to suggest a new surname that reflects these aspirations. The process culminates in the issuance of a "Certificate of Restored Identity." The new name enters the artwork's database, and whenever two people choose the same designation, the system connects them, weaving a genealogical tree based not on blood, but on affinity and choice.