Borba Gato | São Paulo | Brazil
São Paulo
had an enormous and fast urban growing between 1950 and 1960. During that time, the myth of the “Bandeirante” started
with the implementation of Borba Gato statue.
Alcântara Machado book “Vida e Morte do Bandeirante” (Life and
death of a Bandeirante), published in 1929, portraits the
Bandeirantes - based on inventories from 1578 and 1700 – has men,
mainly from São Paulo, who worked in the capture and enslavement of
indigenous people. They killed many communities for their
territories, raped and enslaved indigenous women and explored Brasil
interior mines in search for precious stones and metals. Monuments
such the one of Borba Gato endorsed and justified events such as the
1963 parade where people dress themselves of Bandeirantes and
Indians.
Borba Gato
statues have been contested several times in the past. Today people
are demanding for its removal as well as to re-write the history of
the Bandeirantes in Brazil's collective memory.
