Faces do Mangue (Face of the Mangrove). It is the time for Pernambuco!

10 Apr, 2014

Read in English Below | Leia em Português aqui

By Shirley Nunes

It is notable that within Brazilian culture and music, the main things which are highlighted abroad are the drums and food of Salvador; Bossa nova or Samba from Rio de Janeiro; food and music from Minas Gerais and even Forró from the Northeast which has gained popularity in the last few years. Now it’s the time for Pe rnambuco to shine.

One of the events that deserves attention, advertised in the Brazilian Events Guide from April, is the ‘Brazilian Perspective in Education for Citizenship’( Perspectiva Brasileira em Educação para Cidadania), organised by LAPE ‘Latin America Perspective in Education’ that took place last week at the Institute of Education.

From the State of Pernambuco, Natália de Santana Revi opened the event reciting her poetry written in English, ‘Lamentos do Mangue’ (Laments of the Mangrove). During the recital the poetry’s verses were accompanied by the sound of ‘maracatu’ a Pernambucan drum rhythm played by Fabrício Pires Azevedo . Through each verse, the poetry highlighted the disadvantage experienced by those who live in the ‘ palafitas ‘ wooden shacks, surviving from fishing in the swamp area in the mangrove of Recife. Her poetry also evokes the names of Josué and Chico, not merely by coincidence, but as an affirmation of the message brought by Josué de Castro and the famous Chico Science, both from the state of Pernambuco. They dedicated their lives to show the reality lived by those families and their hope for a better life despite living in the mud of the mangrove. This work connected Chico and Josué with the objective of the event, to show the importance of the mangrove and to give a voice to the community.

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The leaflet given in the event shared part of the poem ‘ Ciclo do Caranguejo ’ (Crab Cycle) written by Josue de Castro. The poem refers to the mangrove areas around the Capibaribe river. “If the land was made for man to serve him with everything, the mangrove was made especially for the crab. Everything there is, has been or will be crab, including mud and the man who lives in it.(…) ” Crabs live in the mud. This is followed by Chico Science’s message and his famous composition, the song Manguetown, with the percussive sounds of Maracatu. The lyrics say: “ To enfiado na lama, é um bairro sujo, onde urubus tem casas e eu não tenho asas” (I’m stuck in the mud, it’s a dirty neighbourhood, where the vultures have homes, and I do not have wings) He also raised a strong criticism of the system in the verse: “andando por entre os becos, andando em coletivos, ninguém foge ao cheiro sujo, da lama da manguetown’ (I’m walking through the alleys, taking buses, no one escapes from the foul smell of the mud in the Manguetown).

Following the poetry recital, the discussion panel started with other Brazilians; Prof. Regina Celia, who directed the discussion; Nara Filippon, who spoke about the Citizenship Council of Brazilians in London; Sabrina Thompson, who showed her research on the gender perspective of citizenship and Brazilian afro-religion; and Prof. Tristan McCowan who talked about the different ways that education can change a community. After the panel discussion that ended with the display of two videos, final talks and reading, the audience had the opportunity to ask some questions about the theme presented.

The first question was about education and the Professor answered “ Yes, It is possible to use the experience of education developed here in the Brazilian community ” and highlighted the masters student Natalia as an example. “ She is demonstrating electronic and visual awareness through linking music and the written word, making a connection between the rich capitalists lacking in emotion(…) her project follows a path of inter-connection – identifying connections within her state and connecting with the Brazilian State and Latin America.”

The founder of Abrir.org.uk ( Associação Brasileira de Iniciativas Educacionais ) Ana Souza , questioned the creation of the Citizenship council by the Brazilian government. She stated that this is an initiative of the Brazilian Government and not of the people. She also added that organizations that already exist and develop initiatives within the Brazilian community are not recognised by the Commission. This issue raised by Ana was not answered.

The event continued with a concert and an explanation of Brazilian music, a moment of reflection, with Flavia Narita, Marcia Adriana Violani and Marcos Araujo, a PhD student in music. To end the evening in the same space there was a photo exhibition, Faces of the Mangrove, by Rainer Knappe. The images exhibited clearly captured how the people survive in the mangrove, how they find work and how they make money besides fishing. The majority of the women that appeared in the images stay at home looking after their children. The images show their daily life and the poor living conditions of the community. According to the leaflet handled out there approximately 750 families live in wooden sacks in the community of Bode and Beira Rio where they are located.

If you missed this event, keep an eye on the Brazilian Events Guide and learn more about the next event which they are starting to organise.

For more information please see link below: LAPE: http:// lape.weebly.com