Book that addresses the exchange between the largest artistic festival in Amazon and Carnival will be launched in RJ

Mencius Melo – From Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – The book “Carnival and Boi-bumbá: allegorical crossings”, “Carnaval e Boi-bumbá: entrecruzamentos alegóricos” in portuguese (Ed. Selo Carnavalize, 246 pages) journalist and writer João Gustavo Melo will be launched next day 16 December, Friday, at 19h, in the Baródromo, Maracanã, in Rio de Janeiro (RJ). The publication is from the Carnavalize label and the photos that illustrate the work are from Rio de Janeiro-based photographer Wigder Frota, who lives in New York.

The book is a report on the cultural exchanges between the capital of Rio de Janeiro and the “Velha Tupinambarana”, as the city of Parintins, home of Garantido and Caprichoso is also known. The artistic traffic gets an approach by the journalist that in an interview to the CENARIUM MAGAZINE details about what led him to write. “I follow the parades of the samba schools since the end of the 1980s. I was a child, lived in Fortaleza (Ceará) and followed the presentations on TV”, João Gustavo recalls.

João Gustavo came to know the Parintins Folkloric Festival in the 1990s. According to the journalist and writer, both the Rio carnival and the festival gave him a striking impression. “The whole visuality of the allegories has caught my attention ever since that time. As for the bumbás, I got to know them at the end of the 1990s, when the bois gained gigantic visibility all over Brazil”, he highlights.

Talents

For the writer, the talent of the cariocas and parintinenses has something mystical, but that doesn’t mean that this is enough. “The talent of the artists has something mystical, but also has everything to do with cultural incentive. The allegorists have flourished in Carnival and in the boi thanks to cultural incentives. It was watering to be born! There is no market if there is no incentive in artistic education from an early age and without an exhibition space that makes it possible for these wonderful creations to be displayed in a unique way to an audience of millions of people”, he says.

Responsible for the illustration, photographer Wigder Frota talks about his participation in the book. “I follow the Carnival since 1982 and I’ve been a photographer since 1991. I met the festival at the insistence of artists parintinenses that were part of the Carnival in Rio. I went as a tourist and fell in love with the festival. I’ve been living outside Brazil for many years and I can say that the Parintins Festival and the culture of the North gave me back my Brazilianness”, he recognises.

For Wigder, there is something different in Rio and in Parintins. “I know many places in the world, but few places have the amount of artists and people as creative as we have in Rio de Janeiro and Parintins,” he observes. “I think this has a lot to do with the heritage of the passion and involvement of people with folklore, with popular culture, of our Brazilianness, of our creativity”, he highlights.

Exchanges

João Gustavo observes that the exchanges are good for both events and that this tends to increase. “This exchange in other areas is already a reality. Artists like Fabson Rodrigues and Estêvão Gomes shine in the costumes. Erick Beltrão has already made choreographies for Beija-flor de Nilópolis. This participation today extrapolates the allegorical question. Both Carnival and the bull have nothing to gain from it. The parties are intertwined in this popular obsession to express beauty without restraint. It’s magical!”, comments João Gustavo.

The luxury and perfection of the finishing of the allegories made by Rio artists represent gains for the artists of Parintins (Reproduction/Wigder Frota)
Wigder sees it with more reservations. “I like the exchanges, but I am very traditionalist. They cannot occur because someone has a name, a fame. The exchange is only valid if the artist who goes there to learn about that particular culture. The exchange is only valid if the artist who comes imported from another place gets used to learning what happens in that manifestation. This can happen, but it cannot interfere with local tradition”, he analyses.

Respect

Both João and Wigder commented on their experience at the two events and the personalities in common, including that of Jair Mendes, the man who created the allegory at the festival. “Seu Jair Mendes is a totem of the Festival. A master! I had the opportunity to meet him and interview him in Garantido’s shed in 2019. I was impressed with everything he said. It is of a sophisticated simplicity the way he looks at his own craft. He is, in fact, a genius. And the interview was the basis for many things in the book. The book begins with a photo of him working in the shed. An image that sums up the transforming power of an artist”, João recalls.

“To talk about Jair is to talk about the king of allegorical art in Parintins. I know the story of Jair’s approach to Rio’s carnival. I know that he met the floats in the 1970s in Rio and took them to Parintins. The interesting thing is that he was inspired and now it’s the artists from Parintins who are revolutionising Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. The contribution of artists Parintins for the carnival today is surreal and necessary!”, praises Wigder Frota.

Choices

The journalist and photographer knows Parintins up close and as could not be otherwise, the passion for one of the two oxen beats strong. Both Wigder Frota and João Gustavo have their preferences. “The photographer, the artist Wigder Frota is the Parintins festival. I do my work covering the festival with love for the two oxen. Already the person Wigder Frota is a fan of Boi Caprichoso”, confesses Frota.

“That is the most difficult question (laughs). So… When I arrived in Parintins, they told me that the boi would choose me. Well, didn’t that happen? I did my field research in Caprichoso. The Art Council opened the doors for me for the research in a very generous way. But in the arena, Garantido won me over. I turned red! But I can say that I have a deep affection for Caprichoso”, concluded João Gustavo.