Brazil 500

State of the Art

by Michelle Chihara

A European explorer runs aground on a foreign land, where his encounter with virgin forests and native peoples marks the beginning of a new civilization. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? But Columbus wasn't the only one getting lost on his way to India. In 1500, Portuguese Admiral Pedro Alvares Cabral docked his ships in a lush, tropical port he named "Porto Seguro" ("safe harbor"). Five hundred years later, Brazilians all over the world are celebrating the anniversary of Cabral's discovery of Brazil, the birth of the Americas' other melting pot.

Boston is home to a huge and concentrated Brazilian population, and the Brazilian consulate here is pulling out all the stops for a week of commemorative events. The ceremonies began with an ecumenical celebration on Easter eve, and they'll run through this weekend with a photography exhibit, a free concert, and -- but of course -- a soccer tournament.

The celebrations won't take place without a note of sadness. Like the United States, Brazil now recognizes that its "discovery" spelled doom for the country's indigenous peoples. "Brazilian Visions: Contemporary Brazilian Photography," an exhibit at the Boston Public Library, nods at that awareness by including photographs of -- and testaments to -- the Brazilian Indian societies that were destroyed by the Portuguese. (In Brazil, the 500-year celebrations are being disrupted in some cities by protests from surviving Brazilian Indian communities, who are demanding restitution of their land). The exhibit includes photos by Anna Bella Geiger, Cassio Vasconcellos, Rogério Reis (that's an untitled piece from his "Carnival on Canvas in Brazil" series in the photo), and Vilma Slomp.

This Friday, the "Brazil 500 Year" festivities -- as they're being called -- open at the BPL with a reading by poet and UMass professor Lloyd Schwartz (who is also the Phoenix's classical-music editor) and continue with a sampler of Brazilian music performed by accomplished local and regional Brazilian artists. Although often lumped wholly into that dreadful catchall "world music," Brazilian music is a world unto itself. The program Friday night starts with traditional folklore songs from Bahia -- the northeastern region of Brazil, and the region with the strongest ties to Afro-Brazilian culture (they're reinforced by African slaves who worked on Brazil's sugar plantations). You'll also hear samba, the heady and heated African-influenced rhythm that dominates carnavale celebrations and stands as Brazil's most famous export. The last act is dedicated to Antonio Carlos Jobim, the prolific arranger, composer, guitarist, pianist, and vocalist, who was one of the fathers of Brazilian jazz, or bossa nova and remains a national hero.

Brazil, possibly even more so that the United States, is a nation of syncretism and combination. Its cultural critics sometimes boast that theirs is a "carnivorous" culture, that it doesn't refer to other styles and traditions but digests them to create something entirely new and distinctly Brazilian. There is no better way to be introduced to the bittersweet beauty of this southern nation than to hear its music. Mauricio Cortes Costa, the consul general of Brazil in Boston, explains that "the celebration is open to everyone, we want to include the American press and the American community in this appreciation of Brazil," which he describes as a nation "with its own distinctive values, where the works of man and nature complement each other."

"Brazilian Visions: Contemporary Brazilian Photography" opens in the Main Reading Room of the Boston Public Library in Copley Square this Friday, April 28, and runs through May 7. An opening reception will be held Friday at 6 p.m., followed by a "Reading and Brazilian Music Night" in the BPL's Rabb Lecture Hall at 7 p.m. The "Brazil 500 Years" soccer tournament will take place Sunday at Somerville High School, Highland Avenue in Somerville. Call 542-4000 extension 3112.