USP promotes symposium on 400 years of Jesuit-Guarani reductions

The University of São Paulo's IEA-USP will host a symposium from September 28 to 30 to mark 400 years of the Jesuit-Guarani reductions in South America. The event commemorates the 1626 founding of the São Nicolau mission.

The meeting will take place at the Sala Alfredo Bosi in Cidade Universitária, São Paulo. Brazilian and foreign researchers will discuss the history, culture, art, architecture, and heritage of the missions, as well as the presence of the Guarani people. These settlements were established by Jesuits in territories inhabited by Guarani peoples between the 17th and 18th centuries, spanning areas that are now part of Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay, and Bolivia.

Organized by the Grupo de Pesquisa “Tempo, Memória e Pertencimento,” the symposium continues a project started in 2018 to preserve the legacy of the reductions. The opening will include a tribute to the late Argentine architect and historian Ramón Gutiérrez for his research on Latin American architecture and his work in preserving missionary heritage.