Abdias Nascimento (1914, Franca, São Paulo–2011, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) was an artist, poet, theorist, dramatist, professor, and social activist. He was the founder of the Teatro Experimental do Negro (1944) and Museu de Arte Negra (1950). He has lectured at universities internationally  and he holds several honorary PhDs. He was a Member of the Brazilian National Congress (House of Deputies, 1983–87; Federal Senate,1991 and 1997–99). In 1981, he founded the Afro-Brazilian Studies and Research Institute (IPEAFRO) in Rio de Janeiro. In 2004, he was honoured by UNESCO, along with Aimé Césaire, with the one-time international Toussaint Louverture Prize for Outstanding Contribution to the Struggle against Slavery and against Racism, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Haitian revolution. In 2010, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. His first solo exhibition was held at the Harlem Art Gallery in New York in 1969 and recent exhibitions include: Being an Event of Love, Stedelijk Museum of Contemporary Art, Sonsbeek Festival, Amsterdam, 2022;  Abdias Nascimento, a Pan-Amefrican Artist, Assis Chateaubriand São Paulo Art Museum (MASP), São Paulo, 2022;  Abdias Nascimento and the Black Art Museum, Acts 1, 2, 3, 4, Inhotim – Ipeafro, Brumadinho, 2021–24; and Abdias Nascimento, a Liberating Spirit, Niterói Contemporary Arts Museum, 2019.

As of June 2023