Brazilian Carnival, festival of arts

Faustino Vicente *

Brazilians certainly put a premium of festivities, because close on the heels of the year-end holidays comes Carnival, which can be considered the biggest popular open-air party in the world. Urged on by irrepressible joy, it is an authentic trademark of our tourist industry and exports. Carnival, art and the world of business all combine on the same parade float. The progress of our Carnival has taken it far beyond a mere street opera and consolidated its position as the planet’s most creative and democratic arts festival.

The carnavalesco, the protagonist at the creative core of each escola de samba (Carnival group), is entrusted with the task of reflecting truth by associating art to historical and geographic circumstances. Imagination and emotion symbolize the body and soul of the artist. From the most famous Carnival venue – the Marquês de Sapucaí parade grounds in Rio de Janeiro – to the humblest side street, our musicality is on display in all its richness – the diversity of its rhythms, such as samba with its origins in the drumbeats of Africa. Alongside the music, literature is present in the samba-enredo (the lyrics to each group’s theme song), which can rewrite our age of discovery or hark back to our cycles of development. And then there is the painting, depicting our flora and fauna in all their colorful glory.

Sculpture pays homage to our celebrities, past and present; the fine arts turn humble materials into luxury; and dance exhibits all the “rhythm in our hips”. Our artisans show off their geniality in using our natural resources; architecture also does its part, especially revealing the carnavalescos as true “social architects”. Photography, cinema and the graphic arts – all are present at the fantastical court of Rei Momo, the Carnival King. The Carnival tradition, which possesses the magic of transforming artists into paraders and paraders into artists, is the most inclusive repository of our popular culture.

Rediscovering our history, nothing has escaped the sensibility of our carnavalescos, who from tradition to globalization, from tragedy to comedy, have portrayed our uses and customs to create a festival for the most diverse communications media. Our geography has provided inspiration for composers to explore the thousands of kilometers of our beautiful beaches, the vast “green sea” of the Amazon forest, the ecological paradise of the Pantanal wetlands, our mountains, waterfalls and biodiversity of the Atlantic forest, and all the other natural riches of this continental country. On the business side, the highlight is the can-do spirit that turns boldness, creativity and exertion – the sum of competencies and skills – into the platform for an exemplary model of competitive organization.

The world of business still has to wake up to the fact that only a pleasant work climate can produce Excellence. Pleasure, in its most refined concept, is the energy (irreplaceable) that generates winners. Even the modernity of our Third Sector, with its social responsibility through volunteerism, for a long time has been part of the “DNA” of samba groups and other similar aggregations, who have been developing excellent special projects, ranging from pedagogy to technology, helping to reduce our rates of social exclusion.

The lengthening of lifespans, the new structure of the world labor market and changed lifestyles are trends that elect the tourist industry as one of the most promising sectors of the future. To the sound of followers of the legenday Maestro André – the qunitessence of polyrhythmic drumbeats – I close with my cautionary Carnival cry: Let’s exploit tourism, not tourists.

* Faustino Vicente – Consultant to companies and public organs.