“What if we recounted the history of the 20th century from the history of servile labour?” This is the proposition that introduces us to the website of the IHC’s new project, “Memories of Servitude – Archive of the History of Servile Labour”, which aims to “function as an archive and digital platform for the study and dissemination of the history of the servile condition, domestic and hotel workers, seeking the oral and documentary record of these forms of labour.”
Open to everyone, from researchers to the community, this new digital space at the IHC seeks to constitute itself as a living body of memories of servile labour, articulating the past and present. Some interviews have already been published in the platform, such as the one with Mariana Bonfim (fictitious name), who, at the age of 90, still helped the daughter of former employers in the housework; or the one with Rosa Maria (fictitious name), who recounts the physical punishment she was victimized as a maid.
Inês Brasão (also a professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria) is the coordinator of a team composed by Nuno Dias (DINAMIA’CET — ISCTE) and Manuel Abrantes (CESIS), as well as Daniel Alves and Joana Paulino (providing logistical support within the framework of the IHC Digital Humanities Lab).
We await your visits and contributions at http://bit.ly/memoriasservidao!
Picture: “The Maids“, Paula Rego (1987). Used with permission.
Other news
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The exhibition will open on 29 September at FCSH -
25 September, 1.º de Maio Square, from 5 to 10PM -
Rui Lopes is the new President of the Board of Directors -
'Armando de Lacerda Wing' opens on 17 September -
Under the theme ‘The Public History of Difficult Pasts’ -
"Ceci n’est Pas Francisco" is at MNAC and will extend to CCCV -
The Inscription I of the Church of Machico will serve as the theme for a series of cultural events -
He is one of the curators of the exhibition "Olhares Críticos no Arquivo Colonial – Sombras e Memórias" -
He will take part in the event ‘Desconstruir o Colonialismo: Entre Tradição e Revolução’ -
‘It is very important to keep the history of democracy in Portugal very much in the public consciousness’ -
The exhibition Eye(s) Open opened at the Eye Filmuseum -
Members of the FILMASPORA project team were in Praia for the Project’s First Workshop on Radical Creative Writing -
The Laboratoire des Études Romanes at Paris 8 University hosts the IHC researcher -
Between 2 and 31 March, at the Portuguese Cinematheque -
She is now a Visiting Researcher at CAST, University of Bologna -
Following elections held on 15 December 2025, the new governing bodies took office for the 2026-2028 term
