Popular Culture

Culturas Populares are the cultural manifestations that deal with deep traditions that mix European, Brazilian Indian and African cultures; a unique mix that differentiates us from our South American neighbors. 

Culturas Populares is what until 10 years ago was known as folklore. Folklore is a term that is generally not used anymore in Brazil. The change of name to Culturas Populares was due to activist movements concerned with creating a term that would express the immense cultural diversity of Brazil. Under Culture Minister Gilberto Gil there has been a horizontalization of Brazil’s diverse cultures. There is less differentiation between high art or low art now. Cultural manifestations deeply rooted in local traditions and rituals are gaining just as much importance as the ‘high’ art of urban centres mainly because there is now a recognition that this is where we Brazilians come from. Hence these areas of culture are being meticulously mapped by the government, various organizations and are even being funded by programs such as Pontos de Cultura which will be discussed in the next section. Activist groups were largely responsible for making Culturas Populares a category in Petrobras and Lei Rouanet subsidy applications.

The mention of Culturas Populares in this mapping as one of the hip cultural scenes is important because these expressions of cultura popular are larger than just music, or folk rituals — they are a way of life that has fed all the arts in Brazil for centuries. For Holland it can be fertile ground to learn rare theatre techniques for actors, performers, storytellers and dancers outside the realm of academia. Cultura Popular brings together text, dramatization of tales, music, costume, performers and audience participation in forms that can be highly innovative for the Dutch.