March 7, 2020
About Bumba Meu Boi
The Bumba Meu Boi Cultural Complex from Brazil was recognized on 12/11/2019 as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The title was awarded by the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO. The Complex is the sixth Brazilian element on the list, along with Kusiwa Art, Samba de Roda, Frevo, Círio de Nossa Senhora de Nazaré and Roda de Capoeira.
The cultural complex of Bumba Meu Boi is a ritualistic practice involving forms of musical, choreographic, performing and playful expression. The practice is heavily charged with symbolism. It reproduces the cycle of life, offering a metaphor for human existence itself. Each year, the groups concerned reinvent this celebration, recreating songs, comedies, costumes, and embroideries for the occasion.
About the Event
The event is set to take place on March 7th, 2020, from 4pm to 9pm. This date has intentionally been selected as a way to create a bridge between the Houstonian culture of the Rodeo and the traditional Festas Juninas in which the Bumba Meu Boi manifestations take place. While the Festas Juninas happen in June in Brazil, it carries parallel aspects of celebrating “country culture”. Our desire is to establish a cultural dialog and exchange between Brazil and Houston, affirming the beauty and diversity that exists in both places.
While the Bumba Meu Boi cultural complex is vast and diverse in its manifestations all across the North and Northeastern regions of Brazil, this event will interpret a few of the key elements of two manifestations from the states of Maranhão and Bahia. We want to introduce this beautiful tradition in this city by respectful artistic interpretation through performance and education.
We acknowledge the depth of these traditions and realize that our artistic interpretation scratches but the surface of this vibrant ritualistic complex. We hope that this event will be a seed that will grow, allowing us to deepen our understanding and capacity to come closer and closer to the full essence of Bumba Meu Boi!
Curators: Ibraim Nascimento, Luana Da Silva, Tony Paraná
Artist talk: February 21, 2020
Mobile Art Space for the Artists - Fifth Ward
3721 Lyons Avenue
Houston, 77020 Texas
281.908.5157
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