Unique UNESCO World Heritage in Brazil - Part 3

Other countries, other customs. On a journey, it is always exciting to visit new cities and natural paradises, but also to get to know the traditions and customs of the destination better. On a trip to Brazil, you should not miss this opportunity. Get to know the frevo during a visit in Recife. During a stay in Salvador da Bahia, you may be lucky enough to see a roda de capoeira and if you are in Maranhão in June you can participate in the celebrations of bumba-meu-boi. There are many cultural traditions and customs in Brazil. Some of them have made it to the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage.

Intangible cultural heritage includes cultural expressions such as music, theatre, dance, oral traditions, customs, festivals and crafts. The aim of this list is to strengthen the diversity of cultural expressions. Brazilian intangible cultural heritage includes:

1. Oral and graphic expressions of the Wajãpi
2. Samba de roda of the Recôncavo of Bahia
3. Yaokwa, the Enawenê-Nawê people's ritual for the maintenance of social and cosmic order
4. The Fandango's Living Museum
5. Frevo, performing arts of the Carnival of Recife
6. Círio de Nazaré in Belém
7. Roda de capoeira
8. Cultural Complex of bumba-meu-boi from Maranhão

The Wajãpis, who belong to the ethnolinguistic group of the Tupi-Guaraní, are an indigenous population of the northern Amazon. The 580 members, that currently make up this community, live in about 40 villages in a protected area in the state of Amapá in northwest Brazil. The Wajãpis have an ancient tradition of using plant dyes to decorate their bodies and other objects with geometric motifs.
Over the centuries, they have developed a unique language, a graphic and verbal combination, that reflects their particular view of the world and through which they convey the essential knowledge of community life. The Kusiwa drawings refer to the creation of mankind and revive the many myths about the origin of mankind. These drawings, which draw on ancient oral traditions, present various meanings on different sociological, cultural, aesthetic, religious and metaphysical levels. This codified repertoire of traditional knowledge is constantly evolving, as local artists constantly renew their motifs through reinterpretation and invention. The most frequently recurring motifs are the jaguar, the snake, the butterfly and the fish.

Samba de roda is a popular festive event, that combines music, dance and poetry. It originated in the 17th century in the Recôncavo region of the state of Bahia and goes back to the dances and cultural traditions of the African slaves in the region. It also contains elements of Portuguese culture, such as language, poetry and some musical instruments. One of the characteristics of this samba is, that the participants gather in a circle called roda. In general, only women dance. One by one they stand in the middle of the circle and the others around them sing and clap. This often improvised choreography is based on movements of the feet, legs and hips. One of the characteristic movements is the famous umbigada, which has its origin in the Bantu and with which the dancer invites those who will follow her to the center of the circle. There are other specific details, such as typical songs, the dance step miudinho, the use of scraped instruments and the viola machete, a kind of small viola that comes from Portugal. The influence of the mass media and competition with contemporary popular music contributed to the devaluation of this samba by young people. The age of the practitioners and the decline of craftsmen capable of making some of the instruments pose another threat to the preservation and transmission of this tradition.

The Enawenê-Nawê live on the banks of the Juruena River, in the riverine forests of the southern Amazon. Every year during the dry, they perform the Yaokwa ritual to honor the spirits and to ensure and maintain the cosmic and social order among their various clans. The ritual is part of the daily life of the Enawenê-Nawê and lasts for seven months during which the clans carry out various activities. One group undertakes fishing expeditions throughout the area, while another group, in addition to music and dance performances, prepares offerings of rock salt, fish and ritual food for the spirits. The ritual combines theoretical and practical knowledge about agriculture, food processing, crafts (making clothes, utensils and musical instruments) and the construction of houses and dikes for fishing.
Since Yaokwa and the local biodiversity is based on a very fragile ecosystem, the continuity of rituals and biodiversity depends directly on the conservation of the ecosystem. Therefore, both rituals and biodiversity are seriously threatened by deforestation and several invasive practices.

Fandango is a popular music and dance form from the coastal communities in the south and southeast of Brazil. The songs of the fandango are called modas and are played with handmade instruments such as the guitar, rabeca and tambor de armação. Traditionally, fandangos were offered as payment to return favors for community activities, such as planting, harvesting and fishing. Over time, the fandango lost its prestige and sense of identity due to the decline of collective work. Many of its performers died and the younger generations were indifferent to this tradition. The Living Fandango Museum was founded to protect this cultural heritage. The initiative to create this museum goes back to a non-governmental organization, the Cultural Association of Caburé. About 300 fandangueiros participated in the creation of a municipal fandango museum, which includes fandango houses and craftsmen who make musical instruments, cultural and research centers and selling points for local craft products. The museum has promoted public awareness through local exhibitions, the organization of seminars, the publication of books and CDs, the creation of a website and the provision of bibliographic and audiovisual collections.

Frevo is an artistic expression of music and dance, which is mainly practiced during the carnival in Recife, the capital of the state of Pernambuco. Frevo is the result of creativity and cultural richness, created through an extraordinary combination of music, dance, capoeira, craftsmanship and other elements, which expresses the intelligence and creative ability of those who practice it. The dance has its origin in the skill and agility of capoeira fighters who improvise their leaps to the electrifying sound of orchestras. The frevo rhythm has become popular throughout the country. His composition and dance are the happy and original results of typical Brazilian rhythms. One of the characteristics of frevo, whether in organized groups or individual celebrations, is the use of very colorful clothes and small umbrellas, a basic accessory used openly during the dance.

The Círio de Nazaré celebrations begin each year in August and their highlight is the great procession in honor of Our Lady of Nazaré, which is celebrated on the second Sunday in October with the transport of a wooden image of the Virgin Mary from the Catedral da Sé to the Praça do Santuário de Nazaré in the city of Belém. After this religious act, the celebrations continue for another two weeks. Almost all the neighboring towns take part in the procession and large numbers of pilgrims from all over Brazil come to Belém to participate in this religious gathering, which is one of the largest in the world.
The celebrations include several elements, that reflect the multicultural character of Brazilian society, such as traditional, cultural and culinary practices from the Amazon region. The use of boats in the procession has a symbolic character, as Nossa Senhora de Nazaré is the patron saint of sailors. The faithful build altars in houses, tents, bars, markets and public buildings throughout the city. For many, the festival of Círio de Nazaré is an opportunity to return home and spend time with the family.

Roda de capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian cultural manifestation, that can be interpreted as a tradition, a sport and even art. The capoeiristas form a circle, the so-called roda, and in the middle two of them "play" capoeira. The other players in the circle sing, clap and play percussion instruments. The main instrument of a roda is the berimbau, a percussion instrument with only one string. Also, other instruments such as pandeiro, atabaque, agogô, and reco-reco are played and songs are sung. The roda de capoeira is a place, where knowledge and skills are learned through observation and imitation. It also acts as a confirmation of mutual respect between communities, groups and individuals, promotes social integration and preserves the memory of resistance to historical oppression.

Bumba-meu-boi is a cultural rite and a very popular folk festival, that is held in Maranhão at the end of June. The underlying legend is about a dark-skinned slave couple. The pregnant wife had a great appetite for ox tongue. Her husband then killed his master's ox. To escape his punishment, the slave fled. But he managed to revive the ox with the help of a bellboy. Every year, the groups involved in the celebrations reinvent this celebration by creating songs, satires, costumes and embroideries for the occasion. The festive cycle, which reaches its climax at the end of June, includes countless manifestations, including public performances and rituals based around the legend of the ox.
Certain elements play an important role in the festivities. The cycle of life, the mystical-religious universe and oxen. The practice is highly symbolically charged. By reproducing the cycle of birth, life and death, it offers a metaphor for human existence. Other Brazilian states have similar forms of expression, but in Maranhão, the bumba-meu-boi is particularly distinguished by the different styles and groups and by the inner relationship between faith, celebration and art.

As you can see, Brazil not only has natural paradises and great cities to offer but also unique traditions, customs and cultural expressions. You can get to know some of these traditions better during your stay in Brazil. Please feel free to contact us and we will help you to plan your Brazil vacation.

Sources: portal.iphan.gov.br, weltkulturerbe-online.info, www.unesco.org, www.wikipedia.org