Lula sanctions law establishing National Maracatu Day: “Art for all the people”
The president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) signed, this Tuesday (12), at Palácio do Planalto, the sanction of bill (PL) 397/2019 that creates National Maracatu Day.
The celebration will take place annually on August 1st, the date that marks the birth of master Luís de França, who was leader of Maracatu Leão Coroado, the oldest in Pernambuco, and passed away in 1997. Maracatu Day already exists in Pernambuco, in same date.
“We have to ensure that this law is followed to the letter. What does this mean? It means that we need to transform Maracatu into an art of knowledge for all Brazilian people. It is not possible for us to create National Maracatu Day and only Pernambuco continues to know Maracatu in depth”, stated Lula.
The president defended that the Brazilian State develop real actions to take Maracatu “to all corners of the country” and elevate its status as a Brazilian national art, with public and private support and sponsorship for its national and international reproduction.
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The cultural manifestation born in the state of Pernambuco in the 18th century mixes varied musical rhythms, especially percussion, with dances, sophisticated traditional clothing and a lot of religiosity.
“In Pernambuco, everything we say is unique, bigger and better, we cannot deny that when talking about Maracatu, which is unique to our land”, highlighted the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Luciana Santos (PCdoB ), who is the author of the Bill when she was a federal deputy for Pernambuco.
The text was approved by the National Congress last month. During the sanction, master Maciel Salustiano led a performance by a group of Maracatu de Baque Virado, Maracatu Rural, traditional from the Zona da Mata of Pernambuco.
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Luciana Santos recalled that Maracatu amalgamated a strong African tradition, by reproducing the coronation processes of the kings and queens of Congo, with cultural expressions that originated from the process of European colonization and enslavement of black people in the countryside and coast of the Northeast. Maracatu is one of the most spectacular emblems of the traditional Pernambuco carnival.
“Maracatu is much more than a dance, it is a cry, a celebration of Brazilian popular culture, which brings with it the memory of our ancestors. It unites communities, revives traditions and feeds the souls of those who participate and those who watch. To the rhythms of drums and instruments, agogôs, the sounds of bugles, we are transported to a space-time where joy and ancestry intertwine, forming a vibrant mosaic of colors”, stated the Minister of Culture, Margareth Menezes.
(With Agência Brasil)
