Candaces

PERFORMANCE AND VIDEO, CURITIBA, BRAZIL. 2016.

Synopsis

Six Black women artists living in Curitiba came together to braid stories and poetic practices and to affirm, in chorus, the strength of Black presence in the city they inhabit.

Carried out in 2016, Candaces is a project of four performances created by six Black women artists living in Curitiba, presented between 10 and 14 August at Praça XV de Novembro, Terminal do Boqueirão, Praça Tiradentes and Praça Zumbi dos Palmares. From the encounter of generations, of past and present, the artists proposed a dialogue with the public on memory, justice, struggle and resistance, in order to look to the future through the recovery of their ancestry. To do so, they drew on the history of the Candaces, queen mothers of African royalty in Antiquity, women who held political, social and cultural roles, assuming full power in the Kingdom of Kush, in ancient Nubia.

Celebrating the weight of their ancestries, the performances brought together the artistic paths each of them had followed. In a process of collective creation, singing, dance, acting, cinema and the recovery of an Afro-Brazilian aesthetic identity came together to give life to the present-day issues these women carry in the place where they live: Curitiba, a city that denies its Black history and identity. All four performances were recorded on video.

Credits

With Bea Gerolin, Carla Torres, Geisa Costa, Janine Mathias, Pretícia Jerônimo and Pri Pontes

A Cazumbá Filmes production

Cinematography: Renata Corrêa · Additional cameras: Isabele Orengo, Laís Melo, Larissa Figueiredo and Michel Urânia · Sound: Lou Bueno · General production: Cazumbá Filmes · Executive production: Larissa Figueiredo · Production coordination: Talita Braga · Production management: Isabele Orengo and Laís Melo · Editing: Bea Gerolin and Renata Corrêa · Costumes: Africanize · Make-up: Dekka Santos · Portraits of the artists: Pretícia Jerônimo · Press: Laís Melo · Graphic design: A Firma · Website: Houston da Paz

Support: Coletivo Zumbi dos Palmares · Thanks to: Jandir Santin, João Marcelo Gomes, Kazumi Hirono and Rafael Urban

Project supported by Call 027/15 – Open Category – Municipal Culture Fund 2015, Fundação Cultural de Curitiba.