Amazon artists condemn attack suffered by Gilberto Gil during Brazil’s World Cup match in Qatar

Mencius Melo – From Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – Icon of Brazilian popular music and personality respected by artists of the caliber of Stevie Wonder and Laura Pausini, Brazilian singer and songwriter Gilberto Gil was harassed by a Bolsonarist supporter in the corridors of the Lusail stadium, where Brazil played its first match in the World Cup in Qatar. CENARIUM MAGAZINE interviewed artists from the North of the country to talk about the episode.

The Pará native Nilson Chaves, known for works such as “Coração Sonhador” (Dreaming Heart), “Tô que Tô Saudade”, “Olho de Boto”, “Não Vou Partir”, “Sabor Açaí” (Acai Flavour), among others, contextualises the violence suffered by Gilberto Gil. “Unfortunately, we live an extremely violent moment commanded by this president who is there”, he noted. “I am not saying here that I am in favour of Lula or Bolsonaro, but, what we see is a general violence, disrespect and terrorism”, he lamented.

Nilson drew attention to the intransigence. “The issue is that these people do not accept the democratic result of the polls, we are experiencing a climate of fanaticism, a sick thing”, he assesses. For Gilberto Gil, who has already been through dictatorship and exile, he believes he will know how to handle the situation. “In fact, Gilberto Gil has a lot of experience to absorb this moment in a different way”, he declares.

Limit

Francisco Weyl, also from Para, essayist, journalist and curator of the Caeté International Film Festival, analysed the impact of polarisation on culture and other segments. “We have reached a limit in political relations after the rise of a right-wing government that dismantled the State apparatus aimed at the low-income public, in the same way disqualified and weakened public and democratic institutions, promoting deliberate attacks against contemporary social causes, ethnic, gender, and cultural issues in general”, he points out.

For the Amazonian artist, the fight cannot stop. “We will repudiate, denounce and criticize these medieval and retrograde scenes. Besides being a poet and a cultural icon, Gil is black, in a country that is qualifiably racist, at the same time that the black social movements are advancing to guide the issue and ensure the conquests of rights in the real, contradictory world”, he points out.

Perverse

For Amazonian singer Lucilene Castro, interpreter of artists such as Chico da Silva and poet Anibal Beça, after four years of the current government, things could not be different. “Bolsonarism has brought out the worst in Brazilian society”, she criticised. “People like the one who assaulted Gilberto Gil already existed, but, they were hiding in their sewers and it was in bolsonarism that they learned that everything could ‘be allowed’, including having this kind of behaviour”, he fired.

For the Amazonian artist, the behaviour of the man who attacked the author of “Domingo No Parque”, “Palco”, “Vamos Fugir” among other classics of MPB and is one of the creators of the legendary “Tropicália” movement, has no support in reason or in any other sense than the one defined by her. “It’s not because of a personal attack on Gil. It’s not for the lost election, it’s not for the family and the ‘good manners’ they preach, it’s not for any of that! It’s because they are essentially cruel people. Their cruelty has been potentiated by Bolsonaro”, he points out.

“If you look, Gilberto Gil is an 80-year-old gentleman who deserves respect. If a person doesn’t respect his work, which in itself is already a monument of Brazilian culture, they should at least respect his age”, he notes. “These people think they have the right to invade other people’s space and say whatever they want. If a tougher measure is not taken, I don’t know to what point we will be able to live together in society”, asks Lucilene Castro.

History

Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira was born on June 26, 1942, in Salvador, Bahia. He is the first son of José Gil Moreira (1913-1991), a doctor graduated from the University of Bahia, and Claudina Passos Gil Moreira (1914-2013), a primary school teacher. He was one of the creators of the “Tropicália” movement, which revolutionised Brazilian music during the military dictatorship of the 1960s. Alongside Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa and Maria Betânia he left an indelible mark on Brazilian culture.

Author of classics like “Drão”, “Refazenda”, “Super Homem” and many others, Gil was awarded the Order of Merit by the French Government in 1997. In 1999, he was nominated “Artist for Peace” by UNESCO. Between 2003 and 2008, he was minister of culture during Lula’s government mandates. He was UN ambassador for agriculture and food and, in 2021, was elected to the Brazilian Academy of Letters, occupying chair number 20.