Bruno Véras and the Global Effort to Repatriate a Malê Uprising Leader’s Skull to Brazil

Bruno Véras, sessional instructor II and a lecturer in our department, is part of an international working group initiative that successfully advocated for the repatriation of a skull from Harvard's Peabody Museum to Brazil.  The skull belonged to an African man who participated in the 1835 Malê Slave Uprising–the second most significant rebellion in Atlantic history, after the Haitian Revolution. Through additional provenance research, Véras uncovered that the skull had been taken from the fresh body of the rebel by a U.S.A. diplomat. This discovery sparked crucial discussions between Brazilian and U.S.A. diplomacy and researchers regarding the case, followed by a coordinated media initiative in Brazil, now expanding to Europe and the U.S.A. 

In 2022 and 2023, Véras organized two seminars as part of the Master of Museum Studies course (MSL2115H), which he regularly teaches at the Faculty of Information. The team brought together Brazilian diplomats, the director of the Peabody Museum, Harvard representatives, Black social movement and Islamic community leaders from Brazil, and professors from the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) to discuss restitution and repatriation, particularly concerning human remains and the case of the skull. Following the second seminar, Harvard agreed to further dialogue with the working group and Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Now, the group is engaged in discussions with six ministries from Brazil and the U.S.A. to pursue further research - including DNA analysis, skull imaging, and archival studies - as well as to collaborate with civil society organizations for proper memorialization.

His research was recently featured in The Guardian newspaper and by the Department of Visual Studies.