{"id":65754,"date":"2021-05-19T10:46:44","date_gmt":"2021-05-19T13:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=65754"},"modified":"2022-01-21T14:30:40","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T17:30:40","slug":"the-art-of-reinvention-black-artists-and-cultural-producers-from-rio-de-janeiros-peripheries-adapt-during-the-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=65754","title":{"rendered":"The Art of Reinvention: Black Artists and Cultural Producers from Rio de Janeiro’s Peripheries Adapt During the Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

This article is the latest contribution to our year-long reporting project, \u201c<\/i>Rooting Anti-Racism in the Favelas<\/i><\/a>: Deconstructing Social Narratives About Racism in Rio de Janeiro.\u201d Follow our\u00a0<\/i>Rooting Anti-Racism in the Favelas series here<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Art is especially powerful at resignifying symbols and introducing new narratives<\/a>, two elements that make it a fundamental tool in the struggle for equity among black Brazilians. Besides supporting the affirmation of blackness, it is also a means to get to know and connect with one’s roots, ancestry and the stories that \u201cofficial\u201d History does not tell, as the 2019 Mangueira samba school<\/a> song, A Bedtime Story for Grown-ups<\/a><\/em>, already a classic, reminds us.<\/p>\n

There’s an entire ecosystem that surrounds black artists\u2019 productions, involving many other professionals who are also black, who also earn their livelihood, or most of it, from cultural production. When the economic aspect is not directly involved, there is a commitment that spaces are built or activities are promoted stemming from these presentations\u2014encouraging meetings, giving origin to dialogues, reflections, and black smiles.<\/p>\n

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With the coronavirus<\/a> pandemic, all these initiatives had to put a hold on in-person events, to reflect on the current moment and how they could carry on. \u201c2020 was an extremely challenging year, especially for artists and culture professionals. In the face of so many losses and unimaginable changes in society, staying active and creative is a great victory,\u201d says Ana Paula Gualberto, coordinator and one of the creators of LH2 – Leopoldina Hip Hop<\/a>, a project born in Arena Carioca Dicr\u00f3<\/a>, in Penha<\/a>, from the necessity to include Hip Hop Culture<\/a> and Rap<\/a> programs in public community cultural spaces and, usually, for free.<\/p>\n

Gualberto recalls that, if on the one hand the quarantine forced everyone to interrupt in-person events, on the other, it made it possible to think of other formats. That was what happened to the LH2-Leopoldina Hip Hop<\/a> Year 3 Edition. In this edition, the team appeared physically in the Carioca Dicr\u00f3 Arena and, from there, the festival was broadcast live to the audience\u2014and, in this way, what used to be a face-to-face event turned into audiovisual content, with artistic presentations, DJ sets and interviews. Exhibited through YouTube<\/a>, audience interactions were encouraged via chat, including registration for raffle prizes and services provided by supporters. Now, in 2021, Gualberto says that the LH2 will maintain the same remote format, though there is the possibility of having the festival in other favela and peripheral cultural spaces in the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Region<\/a>: \u201cWe are excited to meet these new challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Lives and Hybrid Formats: Possibilities for the Current Times<\/h3>\n

The virtual format\u2014<\/em>with live videos broadcast over the Internet, known in Brazil as a \u201clive\u201d\u2014<\/em>was the reality to which several artists and cultural producers had to adapt. According to the ICT Households Survey<\/a>\u2014<\/em>which measures the number of households using information and communication technologies\u2014<\/em>three out of four Brazilians access the Internet, equivalent to 130 million people. However, according to data collected by Folha de S\u00e3o Paulo<\/em><\/a>, 70 million have poor or nonexistent access. This, makes the challenge of communicating, realizing and disseminating artistic events even greater, especially considering that the target audience consists of the working class (classes C<\/a> and D<\/a>), mainly made up of Afro-Brazilians<\/a>. Thus, between 70 and 90 million Brazilians cannot access\u00a0these new forms of online cultural events.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe work with mobilization and in-person gatherings of black people. Like with our Come Be a Black Man and Black Woman Study Group<\/a>, or with our soir\u00e9es<\/em> and artistic events\u2026 It’s hard for anything to replace eye contact, to see how the other person is doing. For us, black people, being forced to keep this distance, especially in the daily fight against racism, was very hard\u2026\u201d says poet and writer Cizinho Afreeka<\/a>, a member of the Denigrate Collective<\/a>. The collective realizes initiatives such as the Griot\u2014a Poetic Encounter between Black Men and Black Women<\/a> and the Come Be a Black Man and Black Woman Study Group, which, in 2020, adapted to the online format with live YouTube broadcasts and virtual meetings.<\/p>\n

Cizinho stresses the challenges of the adaptation process, but underscores how important it was to help maintain the mental health<\/a> of those involved, as well as the audience’s: \u201cWe heard many stories of people who kept waiting for the day of the meeting to talk to other people and recite their poems.\u201d Despite the difficulties, Cizinho says that this has also been a rewarding experience. \u201cWe had people from Brazil and other countries like Mexico, Cape Verde, and Angola<\/a> who were present at our soir\u00e9es<\/em> and study group. That was something extraordinary for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Uma publica\u00e7\u00e3o compartilhada por Denegrir (@denegrirr)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n