In response to Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s extreme policies in Brazil, and the Trump administration’s equally sadistic immigration policies and incitements of white nationalist violence, Brazilian artists Marcos Bulhões and Marcelo Denny, in collaboration with NYU’s Hemispheric Institute, will present “Banho de Descarrego: An Anti-Fascist Urban Performance” in Washington Square Park on September 6, 2019 at 3pm.
“Banho de Descarrego” is a Brazilian performance that stages the eradication of neo-fascist ideologies and practices from the social body through the public washing of painted bodies covered in swastikas. The title refers to a ritual bath used to wash away evil—a practice that is widespread in Brazilian popular culture. The action was first performed in the city of Natal, Brazil, in October 2018.
“The idea is to create an action that provokes poetic and critical estrangement in public space, enacting resistance to the neo-fascist movements and governments of our time. We use the...swastika as a recognizable symbol of oppression, but we are talking about contemporary neo-fascism, which is actually state racism, as we can see now with Trump, Bolsonaro, and others” says Marcos Bulhões. Co-creator Marcelo Denny adds, “We want to provoke a perceptive shock to passers-by, inviting us all to imagine the possibility of defeating the escalating racist and xenophobic violence around the world. These body constructions, as well as the action of washing them, is a metaphor about the need to combat this epidemic."
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Marcelo Denny is a theatre director, curator, producer, set designer, visual artist, art director, and Professor in the Graduate Program in Performing Arts at the University of São Paulo, where he also co-founded the Laboratório de Práticas Performativas. He is the author of several books on >>> and the co-founder of Teatro da Pombagira.
Marcos Bulhões is an artistic director, curator, actor, and professor at the University of São Paulo, where he teaches in the Graduate Program in Performing Arts and co-directs the Laboratório de Práticas Performativas. He co-founded and co-directs Desvio Coletivo, whose urban intervention “CEGOS” (BLIND) has been performed around the world.
Laboratório de Práticas Performativas at the University of São Paulo researches and documents contemporary political performance in Brazil. The group has produced dozens of scholarly works examining performance art pedagogies, the architectures and choralities of the body, urban intervention, feminist and queer performance, and performance and trance, among other themes. In partnership with Desvio Coletivo and Teatro da Pombagira, their practice-based research is developed through courses and workshops locally and internationally.
The Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics at New York University connects artists, scholars, and activists from across the Americas and creates new avenues for collaboration and action. Focusing on social justice, we research politically engaged performance and amplify it through gatherings, courses, publications, and archives. Our dynamic, multilingual network traverses disciplines and borders and is grounded in the fundamental belief that artistic practice and critical reflection can spark lasting cultural change.
Entrada actualizada el el 03 sep de 2019
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