Brazil's creative culture rises up
When 20,000 hectares of forest turn into ashes and thousands of animal species die, when the minister of human rights says that boys should only wear blue and girls should only wear pink, when she also says that Disney's Frozen is a work that clearly encourages homosexual tendencies, when the government's opinion on Carnival is that it is a festival that boasts only lust and debauchery, when all funds destined to the film industry and fine arts are almost entirely cut and the nature of the works needs to be authorised by the government itself, when police violence is encouraged by the highest spheres and when one of the most important topics being discussed is how to arm the population, a population whose voice has been silenced, its rights denied and its differences suffocated, you can be sure: creativity is at risk.
Brazilian creativity and culture are born precisely from everything that is under attack today in our country. Creativity cannot be afraid, creativity cannot be pruned, tamed... creativity cannot be tied to straps. When a forest is burned, imagine all the infinite inspiration that will burn with it. There is probably nothing more plural, diverse and beautiful than the largest rain forest in the world. And that diversity is an infinite source of possibilities for arts, science and culture.
The amount of colours that have been inspiring creativity in so many artists, from 18th century painter Antonio Parreiras to contemporary photographer Araquem de Almeida. The bio-diversity that has helped find cures to so many diseases and that still hides cures to diseases that have not yet appeared. The indigenous cultures that can teach our society so much about respect, love and sharing. Nature is creativity in its purest form. And nature, in Brazil, is at risk.
The quote of a minister saying that boys should only wear blue and girls only pink is not naïve; it’s actually a statement confronting gender roles and it’s also a limitation to the colours themselves. Colours should be used as an instrument to express creativity and not to label and define sexuality. Even Disney’s film Frozen was considered guilty as an instrument to encourage homosexuality. Well, they didn’t “let it go” poor Elsa. Kids are the most creative human beings. And kids, in Brazil, are at risk. Carnival takes place for one week at the end of February and it also represents what Brazilians are best known for.
The power and energy of our music, the diversity of our people and our unique passion for life. Even our most international music style, Bossa Nova, has its origin in Samba, the most played and celebrated music during Carnival week. As the largest popular party in the world, Carnival is probably our largest expression of creativity, translated in dances, parades, songs, and costumes. And Carnival, in Brazil, is at risk.
And the Brazilian film industry that comes from a resounding revival, of audience, of criticism, of an international recognition at Cannes and Berlin. A film industry marked by creativity, not only in its topics, but also in the way it produces and gives birth to movies is also under threat. Threatened by censorship, by cutting of funds. Like the end of the classic Brazilian movie from the 1960’s “Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol” where a miserable man screams, as he keeps turning around in a desert, rifle in hand, as we hear: "Surrender, Corisco! I won't surrender, I only surrender to death”. The Brazilian film industry will not surrender, no matter how much the echo of a voice that shouts "cut, cut funds. Cut everything”is being heard all the time.
Hard times for creativity in Brazil. But one thing is for sure, we are also really good at resisting. Resistance is rife in the whole society, from independent groups, to political parties, from north to south. Even the theme of our creative advertising festival was “Resist”. We are pretty good at that. May we all, in the midst of machine gun and pistol gunfire, continue to arm ourselves with inspiration, ideas and dreams, and achieve social change through creativity and culture. After all, to defend ourselves from such a strong movement against creativity we need to be even more creative and the creative industry in Brazil can take centre stage in this effort.