O Pelourinho!, a spirited exhibition of art from the northeast of Brazil, will run Oct. 10-Nov. 7 in the Community Arts Gallery at Wayne State University.

The exhibition brings to North America for the first time a collection of paintings, sculptures and religious objects by self-taught popular artists steeped in the rich African-Brazilian heritage of Bahia.

Mame Jackson, chairwoman of the WSU Department of Art and Art History, and Barbara Cervenka of the School of Art and Design, University of Michigan, are curators for O Pelourinho! The exhibition is the result of their research over the past five years in Bahia, Brazil.

Wayne State University and the Brazilian Cultural Club of Detroit will co-host the opening reception 5 - 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10. The festive celebration will feature Bahian music, dance and cuisine typical of northeast Brazil.

Art works are primarily from the city of Salvador, an important port in the Portuguese colonial network of commerce and trade and the entryway for the three to four million slaves from the 16th - 19th centuries.

These African slaves worked in the plantations and mines, built cities and labored as craftsmen and artisans in the colonial culture, Jackson says. "They brought to Brazil their own rich heritage of art and religion, remembered and celebrated today in the popular arts of this historic area,"she says.

Pelourinho, the name given to the colonial center of Salvador, refers to the pillory or place of punishment, which one stood in the public plaza. Today this area, declared part of the World Patrimony by UNESCO, has been restored to its original beauty and brilliance and is home to a lively resurgence of African-Brazilian culture.

Gallery hours are 10:30 a.m. - 7 p.m. Tuesday - Friday and 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday. The gallery is located at 5400 Gullen Mall.

For more information call Sandra Dupret, interim gallery curator, at (313) 577-2423 or Mame Jackson at (313) 577-2980.