A new government and new hope for art producers in Brazil

The outcome of one of the fiercest and most polarized disputes in Brazilian history has brought relief to the progressive camp. After contending with Bolsonaro, who promoted violence and ignored the arts, and witnessing the dismantling of tools designed to foster cultural production, Brazilians see an opportunity for redemption with the election of former president Lula da Silva.

After the ballots were counted, C&AL spoke with artists and producers to hear more about their expectations for the new Brazil set to begin in January 2023.

A voice for Brazil's cultural multiplicities “Lula's election has restored hope. The speech he made shortly after his victory showed that he remains a president who is aware of the importance of education, the fight against racism and hunger, the inclusion of minorities, environmental protection, and access to culture for all Brazilian people. There's a lot to be rebuilt after the coup and four years of [Bolsonaro’s] tragic administration. What I expect from Lula’s government is a return to the demarcation of indigenous lands and the titling of quilombola territories, a government that values family farming, that gives us back our Ministry of Culture, since in the previous administration the ministry was extinguished. The cultural sector employs a lot of people, and these workers need to be respected and treated with dignity, like any other worker. It’s important that we have access to the cultural production of Brazil, which is a country with multiple viewpoints, and it’s important that this multiplicity has a voice. I’m hopeful that we will go back to valuing the government funded Pontos de Cultura projects and other strategies for distributing resources, so they aren’t always concentrated in the same hands. Let's see what this large and diverse Brazil has to produce, a country made up of so many worlds that have been denied so many rights and imposed so much violence, but which now finally has hope again”. Aline Baiana, artist

Culture and art as paths to social justice “I feel like we've taken the first step toward stopping the cycle of the current violent government, in all its spheres. My perspective at this point is quite realistic. We need to recreate the secretariats, ministries, and connections that are capable of re-establishing healthy ties with the cultural and artistic sectors and develop a four-year plan for the step-by-step reconstruction of the sector. We must remember that the cultural and artistic sectors in Brazil are as crucial for social justice actions as education, the environment, the economy, health, and development. The cultural circuit employs many people in a wide variety of roles and is a pillar of economic development for countless Brazilian communities, neighborhoods, and cities. Culture in Brazil has to go back to being a government policy because it’s from cultural activity that we maintain education, health, food safety, environmental protection, and the employability of many people and this needs to be taken seriously again”. Ana Lira, photographer, visual artist, researcher and a specialist in Theory and Criticism of Culture

Symbolic production, dissemination of cultural goods and promotion of critical and reflective practices “Most effective cultural policies in Brazil were created during the Lula and Dilma governments, from 2003 to 2016. By listening to civil society, we were able to build initiatives for the entire production chain of the visual arts. Over the last four years, we’ve experienced a total setback on any policy that supports the arts. The dismantling of the ministry and incentive laws produced a veritable extermination of the field of culture. That’s why we believe that, with Lula in power, those policies will be restarted. We expect a resumption of those cultural policies, through efficient action, brought about by the return of a Ministry of Culture”. Ayrson Heráclito, visual artist, curator, and teacher

Incentive to keep creating and fighting “From this government I’m hoping for a return of hope and perspective for the entire cultural sector. I know there’s still a lot to fight for and we have to keep going strong for our surroundings, to strengthen things more and more. But it’s essential that we have this perspective and to be able to dream of better days which, I imagine many people in the art world have been through, but that I, for example, and many young artists who’ve come onto the scene in recent years, in a wide variety of languages and mediums, have never experienced such periods of hope. Now being here and being able to dream about our work is certainly incentive to continue creating and fighting”. Mulambo, artist

Hope for the sector to recover, smoothly and calmly
“President-elect Lula’s victory has unprecedented significance, both for culture and for racial issues. These last six years have really been a period of destruction and the dismantling of cultural institutions that are so deeply rooted in our country, like the Ministry of Culture, the Audiovisual Office, Funarte, and the Palmares Cultural Foundation, essential institutions for carrying out projects and research, both in the audiovisual sector as well as for theater, cinema, dance, and the visual arts.
Over these last six years, unfortunately, we practically had no access to public calls for proposals or incentive laws that would make sponsorship or funding for cultural projects viable. This has led to our country becoming impoverished in this sense, and for many cultural professionals to go hungry, literally shutting its doors on us. I think that now, with Lula’s new government, we’ll be able to have hope again. Culture will once again be treated as a powerful economic activity that creates jobs. Additionally, the new government has already announced that the Ministry of Culture will be reinstated, and, with that, various incentive laws, funding programs, and public calls for proposals will resume, enabling the production of films, plays, dance performances, books, and support for companies, cinemas, and theaters. I'm also very hopeful on the issue of race. I believe that many projects will be carried out aiming at racial equality and inclusion across all layers of society”.
Sabrina Fidalgo, filmmaker

Translation: Zoë Perry