The Domestic Space, Body and Materialities Research Group (GEMA), coordinated by Professor Vânia Carneiro de Carvalho in the Paulista Museum of the University of São Paulo (Ipiranga Museum), aims to deepen theoretical-methodological discussions on the relationship between domestic space, bodies and artifacts and the construction and transformations of Brazilian society in the 19th and 20th centuries. Based on the perspective that materialities have agency in the social world, the group seeks to understand the biography of decoration, clothing and kitchen objects, in their interactions with gender issues and everyday practices.
Kitchens and their objects
Since 2018, a subgroup of GEMA has been specializing in the history of kitchens and their objects, through the project “Food processing in the domestic space, São Paulo, 1860-1960”, which is part of the Curatorial Cycle Thematic Project (FAPESP n. 2017/07366-1). With 15 researchers, the team carries out extensive research based on the collection of kitchen utensils of the Paulista Museum (also known as the Museu do Ipiranga or Ipiranga Museum) and on a multiple set of historical sources, such as advertisements, cookbooks, domestic manuals, inventories and periodicals. The aim is to study kitchen equipment and utensils in their contexts of use, appropriation, replacement and coexistence with other objects, for the production of the Illustrated Historical Repertoire of Kitchen Equipment and Tools.
- Read more about the Illustrated Historical Repertoire of Kitchen Equipment and Tools (São Paulo, 1860/1960)
- GEMA and the production of “Work and Happiness“, an exhibition room in the Paulista Museum (Museu do Ipiranga)
- Learn about our research team and our academic projects