Roda de Capoeira recebe título de Patrimônio Cultural Imaterial da Humanidade

One of the most well-known cultural manifestations in Brazil and recognized worldwide, the Capoeira Circle received, this Wednesday (November 26th), from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the title of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Following a vote during the 9th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, the Capoeira Circle officially received the title. The UNESCO meeting, which began on Monday (November 24th), continues until next Friday (November 28th) at the organization's headquarters in Paris. "The recognition of the Capoeira Circle by UNESCO is a very important achievement for Brazilian culture. Capoeira has African roots that should be increasingly valued by us. Now, it is a heritage to be better known and practiced throughout the world," highlighted the interim Minister of Culture, Ana Cristina Wanzeler. In addition to the president of the National Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage (Iphan), Jurema Machado; The director of the Department of Intangible Heritage (DPI-Iphan), Célia Corsino, and diplomats from the Brazilian delegation to UNESCO were present. Brazilian capoeira practitioners also attended the voting, including masters Cobra Mansa, Pirta, Peter, Paulão Kikongo, Sabiá, and Mestra Janja. The sound of the atabaque and berimbau moved the representatives of the countries present at the presentation they made yesterday (November 25th) at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The president of Iphan, Jurema Machado, present at the committee session, explained that intangible heritage policies do not exist only to confer titles, but also to ensure that governments commit to preserving their cultural assets, both tangible and intangible, such as the Capoeira Circle. "International recognition expands the conditions for safeguarding this asset," she clarified. "The commitments made by the government to safeguard this heritage involve actions to promote and value the masters, whether through their integration into the job market, the preservation of the identity characteristics of capoeira, or the formation of networks, cooperation, and knowledge transmission," adds the president of Iphan. To this end, the agency, linked to the Ministry of Culture (MinC), supported capoeira practitioners themselves in carrying out a comprehensive inventory of the major capoeira groups and masters in Brazil and helped them establish state committees distributed throughout the country. In these committees, capoeira practitioners can formulate demands and commitments related to the safeguarding and promotion of this cultural expression. "The policy on intangible heritage has a specific characteristic: it is fundamental that the masters and practitioners take the initiative because they become the protagonists of the policy itself," emphasizes Jurema Machado. The measures favoring safeguarding as a systematic action of Iphan (National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage) began with a decree in 2000. Four years later, there was another major advance in the area, when an exclusive department for this purpose was created within the agency. "It's about bringing to the State's protection a whole diversity of practices and knowledge that are Brazilian heritage as much as buildings and landscapes. It's living heritage, which implies great complexity, with many actions on the part of the public authorities, but which we have learned to do," he concludes. With this title, the Afro-Brazilian cultural practice that is simultaneously a fight, dance, sport, and art, now joins the Samba de Roda of the Recôncavo Baiano (BA), the Kusiwa Art - Body Painting (AP), the Frevo (PE), and the Círio de Nazaré (PA), also recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Originating in the 17th century, during the height of slavery, capoeira developed as a form of sociability and solidarity among enslaved Africans, a strategy for dealing with control and violence. Today, it is one of the greatest symbols of Brazilian identity and is present throughout the national territory, in addition to having practitioners in more than 160 countries on every continent. The Capoeira Circle and the Craft of Capoeira Masters were recognized by IPHAN (National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage) as Brazilian Cultural Heritage in 2008 and are registered, respectively, in the Book of Registration of Forms of Expression and the Book of Registration of Knowledge. Intangible Cultural Heritage encompasses expressions of life and traditions from all over the world that ancestors pass on to their descendants. According to UNESCO, although it seeks to maintain an identity and continuity, this heritage is vulnerable because it is constantly changing. Therefore, the international community adopted the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2003. The legal document defines what Intangible Cultural...