In the last few years the favelas have become areas where the city government is starting to help organize and promote events to highlight the artists of various communities. So this year the Secretary of State Culture of Rio de Janeiro started with a project called "Favela Creativa" or Creative Favela. About 160 hours will be dedicated to the first marathon showcasing favela culture from 7 different communities. The event will take place Saturdays and Sundays consecutive weeks in the following favelas, Vila Kennedy, Rocinha, Manguinhos, Cidade de Deus, Regiao Portuaria, Alemao/Penha and Grande Tijuca with over 2500 participants. This week Favela Creativa is in the Regiao Portuaria, September 5th-6th will be in Complexo de Alemao/Penha and will finish the circuit in Grande Tijuca on September 12th-13th.
The idea of this program is the promotion of cultural exchange between the participating communities giving visibility and empowering these cultural groups. The program offers open activities that are free for all of the residents in these favelas. The projects showcased will consist of art, fashion, music, literature, visual art, food, games, dance, theatre and popular culture.
We had our festival on August 8th and 9th. I am writing about it now because a few weeks back I was going through some painful dental experiences. In Rocinha there were many activities that I saw. Some of the participants were, Bando Cultural Favelados, Acorda Capoeira, Grupo de Valsa Noite Encantos, Nega Rosa, Batalha De Deus, Casinhas e Poesias, Wark Grafite, Raquel Oliveira (poetry). I enjoyed the different styles of music anything from Bossa Nova style to hip hop. Groups like Conexao Rio, El Tosh, Guilherme Rimas, Pearls Negras, IZO (Instituto Zona Ouest), Senhorita Brown and guitarist/singer Evandro Vedovelli. I am including some fotos from the event.
One of the activities I enjoyed was a "Passinho" battle which is like what the hip hop dancers use to do back in the 80's with dance competitions between crews. This was different in that it was one on one. Below is the dance off between three boys. The boy who won received a nice pair of tennis shoes for his effort!
fotos: Flavio Carvalho, faveladarocinha.com, ANF (Agencia de Noticias das Favelas) and other media present at the event.
I would like to see more of these kind of events that promote all the awesome projects and people in the favelas!
