ABOLITION CELEBRATION
ARTURO´S QUILOMBO
FEEL THE VIBE
FEEL THE VIBE
The community wakes up ready to party. The chapel is all decorated. The litters of Nossa Senhora do Rosário and Santa Efigênia are full of flowers. The members of the Mozambique guard are already on the streets in their blue uniform. The Congo Guard, in pink. Some people in the community, crowned as kings and queens, wear robes that identify their saints of devotion.
The quilombola community of Arturos will be the center of a very important celebration today.
It's May 13th: a date to be celebrated according to the African (roots) traditions of this great family: with a lot of drumming, a lot of faith and a lot of joy.
PHOTOS
Several other guards of Congo and Mozambique are heading there. Together, they leave in a small procession to the church of Paróquia Nossa Senhora do Rosário.
They move while dancing and singing along all the way, many go barefoot; men, shirtless. The drums give rhythm to the procession. Each Guard in its own time, but without ever distancing themselves from the Brotherhood.
Despite being late autumn, the sun is strong. But this is also a strong people, who continue to fight for their space in Brazil, where slavery was officially abolished on May 13, 1888.
TRADITIONAL MUSIC
GLOSSARY
FURTHER MORE
Singing and Reigning with the Arturos
(book with CDs and song lyrics)