Boy drum (21th Century) by Mariana MirandaVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Presentation of traditional dances in Salvador
The city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of Brazil, is the largest city in the world in terms of the number of Afro-descendant inhabitants outside Africa.
The traditional baianas at Salvador - Bahia (21th Century) by Mariana MirandaVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Details that compose the traditions
Props of the women of Bahia who prepare the typical food called Acarajé.
Bumba meu boi (21th Century) by Mariana MirandaVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Lusophone celebrations around Salvador
The culture – music, gastronomy, vocabulary – is deeply influenced by countries such as Angola and Mozambique, from where most of the enslaved immigrants who arrived in Salvador come from.
Presentation of traditional dances (21th Century) by Mariana MirandaVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Traditional dance in Salvador's streets
Thanks to the population density, the territory of Bahia has become synonymous with Afro-descendant culture and reveals this in artistic manifestations.
With feathers on the head (21th Century) by Mariana MirandaVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Connections between Africa and Bahia
Around the 30s, an Afrobaiana religious (based on the practices of African and Bahian culture) named Aninha de Afonjá started to refer to Bahia as Roma Negra (Black Rome), an expression that became popular in the media.
Traditional Blocks (21th Century) by Mariana MirandaVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Reconvexo
In the 70s, when Brazil received criticism abroad regarding the customs and society, the nomenclature "Black Rome" returned to the media, being immortalized by the Bahian singer Caetano Veloso, in the song “Reconvexo”.
The girl's smile (21th Century) by Mariana MirandaVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Smile and colors of a heterogeneous culture
The music "Reconvexo" de Caetano Veloso mocks the unprepared look of foreigners and national elites on the complexity of Brazilian culture, incapable of understanding the ancestral subjectivity of references.
Presentation of Folkloric Group (21th Century) by Mariana MirandaVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Group Performance at Salvador Carnival
“I am the shadow of the voice of the matriarch of Black Rome
You don't catch me, you don't even see me
My sound blinds you, grimace, who are you?”
Translation to English of an excerpt from the song "Reconvexo" by Caetano Veloso.
Escola de Dança da Funceb (21th Century) by Mariana MirandaVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Bahia's cultural diversity and references
Among the cited references are the Bahian Afro-pop music band “Olodum”; “Iara”, Candomblé deity; “Gitá”, mystical song by Raul Seixas from Bahia; Joãozinho Beija-Flor, a black carnival artist from Brazil; and, finally, the “Matriarch of Black Rome”.
Blocks at the Carnival (21th Century) by Mariana MirandaVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Matriarch of Black Rome
The “Matriarch of Black Rome” is a reference to the religious Aninha de Afonjá. Years later, the expression “Matriarch of Black Rome” would come to designate the main sources of knowledge of the ancestral culture of Bahia.
Procession of the Sons of Gandhi (21th Century) by Mariana MirandaVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Procession of the Sons of Gandhi, traditional Carnival group
Currently, the important African heritages present in Bahia are highlighted in Salvador's festive calendar, such as Carnival (movable date) and Black Consciousness Day (20th of November).
The Sons of Gandhi (21th Century) by Mariana MirandaVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Typical costume of the Sons of Gandhi
In festive periods, groups attract different audiences to the historic center of the city with musical performances and traditional dances.
Elderly people (21th Century) by Mariana MirandaVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Flower on the hat, blessing ribbon on the shoulder
Great participation of the third age in traditional folkloric festivities.
The boy who holds the flag (21th Century) by Mariana MirandaVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Celebrating the beauty of Lusophone cultural manifestations
These records, made between 2005 and 2011, aim to celebrate the beauty of these manifestations and the strengthening of ties between Brazil and different ethnic communities, especially Lusophone Africa.
Mariana Pinto Miranda is a PhD student in Culture at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), in Brazil, and a Master's in Communication and Media Studies at the Nova University of Lisbon (UNL), in Portugal. She has a degree in Publicity and Journalism, with experience as an international correspondent and as a postgraduate professor in Communication. She is currently a researcher with a scholarship from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia (FAPESB) and a member of the Logos Group (Poscult / UFBA) with a focus on Place Branding in Lusophone Territories.
