BRAZIL | SOCIAL | PHOTOGRAPHY: culture

Showing posts with label culture. Show all posts

2010/09/12

whistles and snakes

A Photographer Showcase about my work was presented by the Culturazzi Website some time ago. At the time, I was leaving to China and didn't published it here. So, just wanted to share here their link, images were a bit distorted from the original, probably to fit their layout, but I appreciated the selection of images they did:

Beauty, Truth, and Sensitivity

I chose this image I took at Nairobi, Kenya, during the VII World Social Forum. A Tanzanian tribal sorcerer and his assistant, playing a traditional dance with a python, at the Moi International Sports Complex.
More dancers and drummers were coming playing whistles .
I can still hear their sound, their magic.

2010/06/08

the things they said

edited: I had to removed the direct link for this video as it was making the blog too slow.

You can watch this cool video from Survival at this link.

For brothers and sisters.
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2010/05/23

Chinese memories

Copyright © Tatiana Cardeal. All rights reserved.
Reprodução proibida. © Todos os direitos reservados.

Walking at Fuli Ancient town alleys, I heard a music coming from an open door.
It was a small shop at a home, selling lighters, soap, cigarettes, candies... little things of everyday life of the village.
I though it was a radio playing an old Chinese song. Curious, slowly, put my head inside. I discovered that the beautiful song was coming from the her, the owner.

No spoken words, but a body language talk, the lady allowed to shot her portraits while I was fascinated with the magic sound of her handmade erhu, the scenery, it's particular smell, and well... her Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan's 23 t-shirt.
Relaxed, concentrated on the music, almost ignoring my presence, she didn't stop a second.
It was impossible not start wondering about how the fast Chinese development will affect these people, the town, their culture.

The Erhu
The story tells that during the decades of 30 and 40 of the last century, at the Chinese city of Wuxi, a blind street musician was always seen playing an instrument with two strings and begging on the streets. Passers-by delighted with those tunes, stopped to listen.

The artist began to be known as "the Blind ABing". The instrument he played was the famous Erhu, also known as Chinese violin. Even today, whenever people talk about the erhu, they also speak of the Blind Abing, the two are inseparable in the minds of many Chinese.

Copyright © Tatiana Cardeal. All rights reserved.
Reprodução proibida. © Todos os direitos reservados.

Fuli is a Ming Dynasty town built on the Li River's northern banks.
The village has a history of 800 years, narrow, winding cobblestone streets and ancient temples.

> Alley at Fuli Ancient Town, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.

2010/02/23

natural lotus feet

Until the early 1930's was still possible to find a large majority of women in middle age living with visible effects of the Lotus shoes practice, where the feet were heavily bandaged to limit their growth. Known as Lotus shoes, this social practice began in the Chinese court in the twelfth century, and then reproduced by the peasant masses who imitated the elite.

This subjection of women, very painful and disabling, generated a high-cost mental, social, and that somehow reminded me of the beauty standards that are still imposed by our actual society on women, eight centuries later.

> delicate natural feet on sandals, at a village on the suburban area of Guangzhou city, China.

> Through the door of the temple, village on the suburban area of Guangzhou city, China.

2010/02/15

Happy Chinese Tiger New Year!

Local Opera at the village, around Guangzhou, China.

2010/02/01

charming smile

Fans enjoy a long history of about 3 thousand years in China.
The Chinese Fan is the part of the principal section of traditional Chinese folk custom that became part of the social status for the Chinese people.

> Village on the suburban area of Guangzhou city, China.

2010/01/28

daily talk beside ghost catchers

It was a clear feeling that the worlds of myth and reality
have never demanded a clear separation in China.

Red is everywhere in Chinese culture and is the color of celebration. Red banners, from the past Spring Festival, hanged on each side and top of the door, creates the symbolic gateway on the house and add meanings of joy, luck and passion, with written messages that are usually intended to keep the bad spirits away and bring luck into the house.

Some also stick directly on their door the image of the “door god” (men2 shen2 / 门神 ), as ghost catchers, to make sure that bad spirits could not get into the house.

> Village on the suburban area of Guangzhou city, China.

2010/01/14

wishes

China colorized my imaginary world for a long long time. Mythic dragons, ancient history, tea, exotic spicy food, red lights, wisdom, yin yang, Taoism, Buddhism, golden signs, all beside a strong social/political regime, sustainable environmental quests, a still sexist society, human rights hard challenges, and a huge economic development of a massive population... in many ways so different, so complex, and so new for me.

2009 was such a rushed year, Chinese year of the Bull, meaning the prosperity that comes from the strong and the hard work, and luckily I got some of that.
In 2010 I hope to have better chances to share much more experiences here, with old and new friends, and I wish you all a great year of Tiger, with courage and passion on your purposes.

> village's temple around the suburban area of Guangzhou (Canton), China.

2009/09/03

the Jabuti spirit can sing

Embraced by his friend that was playing the flute, they danced together.
It was the first time I've seen someone playing a Jabuti's (turtle) hull.
The sound was a vibration produced by the friction of his warm hand,
in a constant rhythm, giving me a sense of transe.
Hypnotic and beautiful.

In the House of Knowledge, at São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Amazonas.

2009/07/22

Bará

A Bará Indigenous man that is living at São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Amazonas, also found at the Maloca (House of Knowledge) a secure place to express his own traditions and share with others. A way to keep his immaterial cultural alive.

With a peculiar humor, he was listed to me as a 'dangerous indigenous man' by the Baniwa's leader of the community, because he has a mustache (not very usual here).
Bará People are rare in Brazil, a estimative about their group here is about only 39 people. His original tribe is near the frontier with Colômbia, around Papuri river.

São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Amazonas.
+ Info: ISA: Povo Bará

2009/07/16

maloca's gate

There are 22 familes living at Itacoatiara Mirim, a Baniwa Comunity around São Gabriel da Cachoeira. To recover their traditions after leaving the original tribe, they built this "Maloca", also knowed as House of Knowledge.

"House of Knowledge is an area of transmission and learning of the traditional culture for those who do not know or forgot. It's to talk, tell stories of past, reliving the custom to eat together. A place to dance, make instruments, showing the young our culture" explained Mestre Luiz Laureano, community leader. "The House of Knowledge is also to receive relatives who come from the original tribe to share with us the stories of our family who were there. Is a school that will pass knowledge. "

São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Amazonas - Brazil.

Info | ISA - Índios e a Casa de Conhecimento