Today, eventhough most of the city has been classified World Human Patrimony by UNESCO, and its Carnival is the most appreciated of Brazil (ahead of Rio de Janeiro), it's the common people of Salvador who make the city a vibrant and poignant place. Far from the make-up of Carnival and its fake reality for tourists, far from the usual clichés of Brazil which are football, beaches and beautiful women. Moreover, São Salvador da Bahia da Todos os Santos, the Bay of All Saints lives on despite the death of world famous writer Jorge Amado, translated into 54 languages, who passed away in August 2001. Chronicler of the city which he dearly loved, and of which he wrote profusely, his books demonstrate a deep rooted respect for the "people" and for the typical situations experienced by these residents whose violent lives and histories are also characterized by laughter and sensuality.
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado. Photos and text by ©Sylvain Savolainen/LightMediation Contact - Thierry Tinacci - LightMediation Photo Agency - +33 (0)6 61 80 57 21 thierry@lightmediation.com
2355-02: A syncretic mass (mixture of several religious trends) punctuated by chants and the use of percussion instruments in the celebration of O dia da Baiana, a day of tribute and celebration of the Baianas, or women, symbols of the negritude of Bahia and followers of the candomble -African Brazilian religion- in which worshippers all dress in white.
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-01: The main square of the historic quarter of Pelourinho. To the right, the facade of the Nossa Senhora do Rosario dos Pretos Church. This church was
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-02: A syncretic mass (mixture of several religious trends) punctuated by chants and the use of percussion instruments in the celebration of O dia da Baiana,
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-03: Seller of roosters in the large working class market of Feira de Sao Joaquim. The Feira de Sao Joaquim is probably the most lively and crowded
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-04: Bar in the Ladeira da Montanha, the street known for its mafiosis, prostitutes, dealers, and cachaco which sells for 50 centavos. In this bar, no need
2355-01: The main square of the historic quarter of Pelourinho. To the right, the facade of the Nossa Senhora do Rosario dos Pretos Church. This church was founded by slaves in the 18th century. The geographical, cultural and historical epicenter of Salvador de Bahio, this area is reflected in the novels of Jorge Amado: "Suor", etc. The entire old city is now mentioned on Unesco's World Heritage list.
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-05: In the old city of Salvador da Bahia, just minutes from the shops where tourists buy souvenir mementos. In his novel, "Suor", describing life in this same
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-06: A young girl on the square in front of the Nossa Senhora do Rosario dos Pretos Church (Our Lady of the Rosary of the Black Man) for O dia da Baiana, a
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-07: In the heart of the old city of Salvador's Pelourinho square, the congregation leaves the church of Nossa Senhora do Rosario dos Pretos after a
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-08: At night, at a table of the red light district of Salvador da Bahia, the Comercio: beer and prostitutes. When Tome de Souza in 1549 first set foot on the
2355-06: A young girl on the square in front of the Nossa Senhora do Rosario dos Pretos Church (Our Lady of the Rosary of the Black Man) for O dia da Baiana, a day dedicated to the celebration of the Baianas (the women of Bahia), symbols of negritude in Bahia and followers of the candomble religion, a mixture of African and Brazilian influences in which worshippers mandatorily dress in white.
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-09: Around the harbor of Salvador "And what else have I been, said Jorge Amado, than a novelist who recounts the stories of whores and vagabonds {...}
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-10: Atmosphere in a bar on Saturday evening, in the red light district of Salvador da Bahia: o Comercio. Here, soccer fans come to finish the evening with
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-11: In the old city of Salvador da Bahia, the atmosphere resembles the daily events of a novel by Jorge Amado: "A fetid world, with neither hygiene
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-12: Symbol of the power of the church and the colonial invader, in total contradiction with the vow of poverty of its patron saint, the baroque San
2355-12: Symbol of the power of the church and the colonial invader, in total contradiction with the vow of poverty of its patron saint, the baroque San Francisco church in the old city of Salvador da Bahia displays limitless wealth and splendor. Gold leaf is used like wall paper. Forced to build the church of their masters and prevented from practising their own religion, the craftsmen-slaves from Africa took revenge through their work: their cherubs grimace rather than smile, and some of the angels have oversized genitals, while yet others appear pregnant.
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-13: An elderly beggarwoman in front of the Nosso Senhor do Bonfim church. Built in 1745, the church has a reputation for producing miraculous healings.
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-14: The Nosso Senhor do Bonfim church. Built in 1745, this church is known to produce miraculous healings. This is the most important and most widely
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-15: Nosso Senhor do Bonfim church was built in 1745 and is known for its ability to produce miraculous healings. This place of worship is the most
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-16: The cane cutters or farm workers in general are nicknamed "Boias frias" (cold food). Trucks come to pick up the workers at dawn, dropping them off in the
2355-36: Festivities in a working class neighborhood.
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-17: Brazil and India compete for the title world's largest sugar producer. In the sixteenth century, colonial Portugal introduced sugar cane into north-eastern
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-18: Brazil and India compete for the title world's largest sugar producer. In the sixteenth century, colonial Portugal introduced sugar cane into
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-19: The cane harvesting season, called the Safra, lasts six months. This is how long the cane cutters contracts last, and once the harvest is over, they must
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-20: Before the harvest, the sugar cane fields are burnt to remove excess greenery and allow the cutters to do their work and avoid snakes. Despite the
2355-16: The cane cutters or farm workers in general are nicknamed "Boias frias" (cold food). Trucks come to pick up the workers at dawn, dropping them off in the fields, where, to save time and money, they eat cold meals rather than leave the plantations. Each evening, the same trucks take them either back to their villages or to company dormitories.
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-21: Brazil and India compete for the title of the world's greatest producer of sugar and by-products such as drinkable alcohol or fuel alcohol. During the
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-22: The cane cutters or farm workers in general are nicknamed "Boias frias" (cold food). Trucks come to pick up the workers at dawn, dropping them off in the
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-23: Early evening in a working class neighborhood. / Brazil / Salvador da Bahia
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-24: Emblematic scenes and symbols visible in Salvador da Bahia: the Bay of All Saints and the Lacerda elevator, which links the cidade alta (the high
2355-13: An elderly beggarwoman in front of the Nosso Senhor do Bonfim church. Built in 1745, the church has a reputation for producing miraculous healings. This is the most important and most widely venerated church in Salvador
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-25: Saturday evening in a bar in the Engenho Velho de Brotas quarter. The bar has been temporarily transformed for the night into a dive. Checkers, dominos
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-26: Saturday evening in a bar in the Engenho Velho de Brotas quarter. The bar has been temporarily transformed for the night into a dive. Checkers, dominos
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-27: A beach popular with working class crowds, the Ondina, located between the neighborhoods of Barra and Rio Vermelho. Rio Vermelho is also the quarter
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-28: In the Bay of All Saints in Salvador da Bahia, a saveiro (a boat with a rectangular sail typical of northern Brazil). On board the coastal hugging ship, two
2355-27: A beach popular with working class crowds, the Ondina, located between the neighborhoods of Barra and Rio Vermelho. Rio Vermelho is also the quarter in which the Iemanja temple is located. The temple is dedicated to the goddess or orixa as she is known in the candomble African Brazilian religion of the sea. She protects families, children and fishing, and her preferred color is light blue.
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-29: In the bay surrounding Salvador da Bahia, the Bay of all Saints, a saveiro (a boat with a rectangular sail typical of northern Brazil). On board the coastal
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-30: View of the old city of Salvador da Bahia, figuring on the World Heritage List published by Unesco. / Brazil / Salvador da Bahia
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-31: "His eight years did not prevent him from already being the head of a gang of kids which wandered over the hill of Chate Negro and other nearby
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-32: Emblematic scenes and symbols visible in Salvador da Bahia: the Bay of All Saints and the Lacerda elevator, which links the cidade alta (the high
2355-08: At night, at a table of the red light district of Salvador da Bahia, the Comercio: beer and prostitutes. When Tome de Souza in 1549 first set foot on the Bay of All Saints to found the city of Salvador, sent by the King of Portugal with a royal delegation of 400 soldiers, 400 settlers, priests and...prostitutes. Althought city historians would rather forget the fact, prostitutes did play a major role in the foundation of the city, as did the first governor of Brazil. Such women were chosen by Jorge Amado to represent both his literature and the city of Salvador, most remarkably in his novel "Tereza Batista".
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-33: Inside a boxing academy of former world champions Luis Carlos Dorea and Acelino Freitas aka Popo. A hero of mythical proportions in Salvador de
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-34: "Balduino was satisfied as he observed the white man lying at his feet. Then he drew his gaze upwards towards the inquisitive eyes of the crowd
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-35: November 20 is a special date in Salvador da Bahia, corresponding to what elsewhere in Brazil is known as the Day of the Black Conscience "O Dia da
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-36: Festivities in a working class neighborhood. / Brazil / Salvador da Bahia
2355-24: Emblematic scenes and symbols visible in Salvador da Bahia: the Bay of All Saints and the Lacerda elevator, which links the cidade alta (the high city) and rich area in which citizens of note built hundreds of churches in the past, to the cidade baixa (lower city) characterized by the port and commercial area, housing former slaves and whores, on the sea. The only escape route was the sea and probably drowning. Although today cheap souvenirs are sold here to tourists, at one time the Mercado Modello (Model Market) stored and sold slaves.
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-37: Festivities in a working class neighborhood. / Brazil / Salvador da Bahia
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-38: The newest consecrated cultural representative of Salvador da Bahia is musician Carlinhos Brown. Today he is considered among the best percussionists
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-39: Facing a badly maintained building used as a shelter for the homeless, Mae Preta (Black Mother), a former prostitute working in Pelourinho in the
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-40: Facing one of the streets doted with the worst reputation in all of Salvador da Bahia, the Ladeira da Montanha, a man and his son sleep in a homeless
2355-18: Brazil and India compete for the title world's largest sugar producer. In the sixteenth century, colonial Portugal introduced sugar cane into north-eastern Brazil, earning part of its great wealth from the sugar trade, produced at almost no cost with the use of slave labor. Today much has changed, yet in some ways little has changed: although the imperialistic style has changed, being neo-liberal today, the then slaves are now "farm workers". Each worker must cut 3.2 tons of cane per day to meet requirements, otherwise he is fired. The daily production quotas must be reached to receive a salary of 180 Reis per month, the minimum wage in Brazil. For comparative purposes, a one way bus ticket costs 1 Real.
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-41: Picked up off the streets and now living in a shelter for the homeless in one of the streets enjoying the worst reputation of all Salvador da Bahia, the
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-42: Mae Preta (Black Mother), a former prostitute working in Pelourinho in the 1920's to 60's, who well knew Jorge Amado, at home. / Brazil / Salvador da
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-43: The Quinta dos Lazaros cemetery competes with the Camp Santo cemetery for the honor of the classification as oldest graveyard of Salvador da
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-44: An old man on a bench in the Pelourinho quarter. The black population of Salvador surpasses 75% of the total population. / Brazil / Salvador da
2355-23: Early evening in a working class neighborhood.
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-45: Working class open market at Feira de Sao Joaquim, in which countless workers carry produce and perspire abundantly. The site is a major fair
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-46: The immense and hugely popular Feira de Sao Joaquim market is inhabited by countless workers heaving heavy loads of produce. Brazil and India
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-47: Working class open market at Feira de Sao Joaquim, in which countless workers carry produce and perspire abundantly. The site is a major fair
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-48: 1, Liberty Street, the neighborhood of Salvador da Bahia with the largest black population. / Brazil / Salvador da Bahia
2355-53: A woman entering a state of transe is possessed by a spirit during a candomble ceremony. This African Brazilian religious ceremony is celebrated in honor of Ere, the spirit of children and childhood. The uses of song, dance, percussion, costumes and trances punctuate the ceremony.
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-49: Alley way in the old city of Salvador da Bahia. / Brazil / Salvador da Bahia
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-50: Gypsies and fortune tellers in a camp ground on the outskirts of Salvador. According to this family, their ancestors came to Brazil from Egypt. / Brazil /
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-51: Gypsies and fortune tellers in a camp ground on the outskirts of Salvador. According to this family, their ancestors came to Brazil from Egypt. / Brazil /
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-52: A candomble ceremony (African Brazilian religion) celebrated in honor of Ere, the spirit of children. Song, dance, percussions, costumes and transes
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-53: A woman entering a state of transe is possessed by a spirit during a candomble ceremony. This African Brazilian religious ceremony is celebrated in honor
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-54: An African Brazilian candomble religious ceremony is celebrated in honor of Ere, spirit of children and childhood. Song, dance, percussions,
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-55: During a candomble ceremony, a religion of African and Brazilian origins. / Brazil / Salvador da Bahia
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado / 2355-56: A card game shared by fishermen at the small port area of Rio Vermelho, a site which inspired many scenes in the novels written by Jorge Amado. /
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado. Text. There are places in the world, cities, that are music. Havana in Cuba and New Orleans in the United States belong to that group. There are others, which, because of their effervescence, because they are a bit the world and humankind in themselves, inspire and attract artists and thinkers from all horizons. Calcutta, Paris, would probably belong to this category. Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of Brazil and of the Portuguese empire in the Americas, which was still called not so long ago São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos, belongs to both categories. Without any doubt, it is one of those cities that deserves to reside in the constellation of the seminal cities of today's world, with as a prerogative all that this title calls for in terms of real life, of suffering, of humanity, of earthly difficulties and spiritual life. Nearly equidistant from the North and the south Pole, it is not crazy to see in Salvador a third pole, more historic and human than geographic, but just as "magnetic" on the map of History. Indeed, for the period from 1500 to the end of the 19th century, the figure of 3.5 million slaves having been imported to or transported through Salvador has been put forward. Salvador da Bahia will go down in history as the biggest slave market that Humankind has ever known. Just in comparison, by the end of the 19th century, the United States had seen only
about 430,000 slaves arrive. A displaced and scattered population grew here, which, with its flesh, created a blood brother to the African continent, a black America, an invisible and diluted continent, from Louisiana to Port-au-Prince, from Havana to Kingston, going all the way south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Of this world, Salvador da Bahia is the indisputable epicenter and capital. The capital of the "black gold" that the colonists and traders, torturers, criminals and swine - supported by the great powers of the time - put in chains, transported and often left to die in the hold before even selling them. The rest we know: the sugar, cocoa, cotton and tobacco plantations. Out of this intense meeting of uprooted and dumped Africans, of quasi-decimated Indians and of settled Whites was born a culture, a mythology and beliefs forming "the essence of an 'International' of gods in exile". We'll come back to that? This was, in fact, an entire world that was begotten. A fringe of humanity that was not destined to last, which had to bow down its head, and raise it also, just to exist, a world of little people, the working class, a popular world that Jorge Amado, writer and bard from the Brazilian state of Bahia, celebrated. Albert Camus commented on the work and the world of Amado in these words: "Importance is given to life, that is, to an ensemble of gests and cries, to a certain order of enthusiasm and desire, to a balance of yes and no". Laughter and tears, lives thrown entirely into the moment, sometimes without thought for tomorrow. Amado himself summed up his work and his heroes in a language of truth, of humor and of tenderness, tinged with the accent
of restrained anger, by saying "And what was I other than a novelist of whores and vagabonds? If some beauty exists in what I write, it comes from these dispossessed people, these women branded with a hot iron, from those on the fringes of death". Jorge Amado died on August 6, 2001, at the age of 88, in Salvador da Bahia. He whom the Brazilian people had accepted as their beloved ambassador ("amado", what is more, means "loved" in Portuguese), he whom the entire world honored, whose name was regularly uttered as a possible Nobel Prize winner for literature, was born in 1912 in Ferradas, on a cocoa plantation in Sergipe, to the south of the state of Bahia. At the age of ten he went to a Jesuit boarding school. These latter saw a calling for him and him becoming, one day, one of them. Three years later, they said a mass and prayed for his soul when the young Jorge fled after declaring himself an atheist and Bolshevist. An unsettled life began. "My teenage years were very important for me. Then I really knew the life of the people in Bahia, the people of the port, the capoeira circle (the martial art and dance of African origin developed in Brazil), the African cults". At that time Jorge Amado mixed with a colorful put downtrodden world, that of the poor working class and of the women called "working girls". He went from one smalltime job to another, from writing obituaries to becoming a young journalist. Experience and knowledge have a price, for Amado it would be high. In the beginning of the 1930s, he joined the Communist Party. Getulio Vargas in the meantime carried out a coup d'état, and the communist party was banned. For Jorge Amado a series of exile and imprisonments, of episodic returns, began. His books were publicly burnt by the
military and banned. He was all the same elected Communist deputy in 1945. He distinguished himself by supporting the Afro-Brazilian Macumba cult of the Candomblé, up until then brutally repressed by the police. He even had legalization granting the freedom of religious faith voted in, henceforth being able to count on the recognition and sympathy of the Candomblé networks and priests. Once more forced to go into exile in 1948 when the Communist Party was again prohibited, taking refuge in France, then expelled from there and declared persona non grata for 16 years, an itinerant militant in the so-called people's democracies during the Cold War, he finally returned to Salvador to never again leave. In 1956 he had left the Party. His bond and his attachment to France planted seeds of respect. Jean Soublin, in Le Monde, wrote at the time of his death "His fervent and sincere actions as a politically committed writer under several dictatorships earned him many enemies. Less than others who have died because of it, but more than others who kept quiet. (...) His taking of positions, the injustices endured without groaning, the suffering, gave him in the eyes of his readers a dignity, an authenticity, which made him credible when he recounted in his books the struggle for the earth, the strikes, the assassinations. The public felt good: that Left was not champagne socialism, it could be listened to." But make no mistake about it; it is not sterile ideology that haunts Amado's books but the heartbeat of Salvador and of Bahia de Todos os Santos, the bay of all the saints. Salvador and Amado: rare and probably without equal are the love stories that have so linked a city, source of inspiration,
and its chronicler. The writer has passed away, but what has happened to his world? I am going to tell you. It is moreover in this way that I am offering you my feature inspired by a sentence, a passage, the places, the people of Amado, the images that I have brought back. Because yes, everything, all the women and the men are still there. The Lacerda elevator, boxer-bruisers, sugar cane cutters, swaggerers of the port and the girls of the port, the streetwalkers, those members of the oldest professional or hustlers by hazard, "ladies of the evening", whom Amado in his last novel "Navegação de Cabotagem" (Coastal Sailing) all called by one name: Maria. "Maria each one, all of them, passengers taken on at the port of call, fleeting shadows on the quays of the ports, from port to port, the ancient mariner's round". Maria does exist, I found her. Maria Davina Rodrigues de Oliveira today nicknamed Mãe Preta (the black mother), former prostitute, a friend of Jorge Amado, a neighborhood companion, bedfellow. I'll tell you where she is. Between the cidade alta (the high city), that of the rich who, at the time, built hundreds of churches like just so many little corners of Paradise, and the cidade baixa (the low city) that of the port and the Comércio, of the slaves and, of course, the prostitutes. Here, there is a type of Hell, a sort "no man's land", with as a way out, not the churches and Heaven, but the sea and drowning. That's where she is... Under the big Lacerda elevator of more or less Art Deco architecture, linking the city heights to the port, separating like a clean break the two parts of the city, on the side of the cliff, there is the Ladeira da
Montanha (the mountain's side). And when you say this name in Salvador, the whole city shudders and grows pale. The Ladeira da Montanha is synonymous with danger and horrors. This is no longer Salvador of Bahia, but SALVAGE YARD of Bahia, UN-SALVED ODOR of Bahia. It is Amado's world and people in his book "Suor". Sweat. It sheds tears, fear does. The world has made whores out of these women; their children make it a world of ill repute. The Ladeira da Montanha is a slope of blue, green, yellow building facades, the paint peeling. There are blocked-up doors, knocked down doors, bars where they play pool with, on the green baize, a naked woman drawn with the chalk. The cachaça, the only drink served, costs 50 centavos (25 cents).
In the one hundred and sixteen rooms, more than six hundred people. A world. A fetid world, without hygiene and without morals, with rats, cursing and people. Workers, soldiers, Arabs speaking in distorted tongues, peddlers, porters, people of all colors, from all places, in all dress, fill the building. They drink cachaça at Fernandes' bar and spit in the stairway where, sometimes, they piss. The only non-paying tenants were the rats. An old black woman sold acarajés and munguzá at the door.
This is where Mãe Preta is. 79 years old, 35 years since she gave up prostitution, she lives in the Ladeira and houses, feeds, helps as much as she possibly can - as needy as she is herself those, who like herself, have no other refuge than the Ladeira da Montanha. Maria shares. I saw, in her shelter, baskets of food in front of me. No cons, no
misappropriated funds, without even talking about misappropriated funds when it comes to organized crime. But wait! The sounds of sobs, coughing, blows, sickness and pain, that's what the poor share the most. There is this fantasy that the rich have of the poor, the "good poor", so humble, so generous, so nice in the end especially when they stay in their ghetto who share, and share some more?. A comforting idea. An alleviation for greed, for uneasiness. Exoticism of morals, fantasy. Exoticism tinted with sentimentalism: "Fascinating", we hear, "how the poor share...!" Okay, excuse the expression, but the reality is that poverty is shit, and that's what Mãe Preta and the poor have to share. But there is also, of course, music, Joy with a capital J, Elation even, or as they say in Brazil: Alegria. And drinking, dancing, making love to the mulatto girls, in the evening, by the sea, "sleep without dreaming" wrote Amado. Just so many inalienable riches. The blues, jazz, flamenco, samba, today all part of our "world music", all those sounds have drawn their beauty and their energy from these poor worlds where alcohol is holy water. And then there are the children, neighborhood urchins, genuine lights of the city where electricity is a given that is not to be found everywhere. When they are not in school, they fly kites, play the percussion, kick a ball around and gain? They gain, yes. Not a salary: they gain cuts, bumps and scars. That's how they grow up. But as Gilbert Salem wrote, "There where we are prepared to show some compassion, we discover joy." It's a sort of recognition, indebtedness to one's day of birth.
Being barely eight years didn't stop him from already being the leader of the packs of kids who roamed the Morro do Capa Negro and the surrounding hills. But in the evening, no game could tear him away from the contemplation of the lights coming on in the city, so close and so far away. (...) What he did not want to lose was the appearance of the lights, a revelation always new and beautiful for him. (...) But the appearance of the lights purified everything. Antonio Balduino lost himself in the contemplation of the lines of streetlamps, gazed with his keen eyes into the brightness and felt the desire to be kind to the other young Negroes of the hill. If one of them approached him now, he would have without doubt caressed him, he wouldn't welcome him with the usual pinches, he wouldn't utter the four letter words that he knew so well already. He would have without doubt patted the companion's mop of hair, held the friend against his bosom. And maybe he would even have smiled. That smile, it's even a mission to elicit it for Carlinhos Brown. He who had been one of those children from a poor neighborhood, the Candeal, a bit of hill inhabited by down and outs rather than the up and coming. He learned to play music by beating on the garbage cans. He is today the key figure of Salvador, the established ambassador of Bahia, considered one of the best, if not the best, percussionist in the world. He is author, composer, singer, percussion machine, creating machine, reaction machine, man laser show all in one. From concerts to interviews, in solo or with his band, the Timbalada, he exhales an irresistible energy that pulses through the city and the body. Become a star, Carlinhos Brown has not
abandoned his neighborhood. Every Sunday he gives a concert there where the upper class of Salvador and Brazil come, obliged to descend amidst the working class. Moreover, Brown actively contributes to the development of Candeal; he has instituted different education programs, the renovation of housing and sanitary development, hailed by everyone. Carlinhos, a street urchin, has become a model, a revenge. And then, there are obviously others. Those with a less glorious career. Dockers, porters or sellers in the market of Feira de São Joaquim for example. Without doubt, that is the most lively, chaotic, vibrant and teeming spot in Salvador. It's here where you find the faces, the biggest "mugs" and the biggest "mouths" also. Several hundred square meters of workers toiling and boiling in the sun, often a soccer ball cut in half on the head to cushion the weight of the load. Everything is sold here, of all shapes and varieties: dried snakes for black magic, mangoes, statues of the gods, alarm clocks, bull testicles, incense, cumin, saffron and cardamom... It's the great emporium of animals, vegetables and of people. Saveiros, those boats with rectangular or square sails from Nordeste, draw alongside to deliver their cargoes of sugar cane. Sugar. That of the cane cutters. In the 16th century, Portugal introduced sugar cane into the northeast of Brazil. It made a part of its wealth out of it, out of the trade in sugar, produced at a cost next to nothing by the labor of the slaves.
Today, everything has changed and nothing has changed for the cane cutters, the boias frias (cold food) as they are nicknamed. To be able to respect the yield imposed on them, to save time, they gulp down their cold meal on the plantations. Colonialism has changed it's nature, today it is neo-liberal; the slaves have changed name, now they are "farm workers". I stayed for a few days on the plantations; I saw them lacerating their hands and breaking their backs to cut, each of them, each day, 3.2 tons of cane. 3.2 tons, each day! And that for a salary that buys nothing. 180 Reais per month, the legal minimum in Brazil and not a cent more. To put it into perspective, a bus ticket costs 1 Real. In 1988, the government recognized the right of the slaves' descendants to the land that their ancestors and they themselves worked over the centuries. But their claims meet with an absence of proof. A long time ago already most of the official archives concerning slavery were destroyed. At today's count, 5% of the population owns 80% of the country's land. I'm telling you, those of you who don't have the heart of a slave driver, if you spend a few hours on these plantations, you will leave with your stomach in a knot, your jaws clenched with anger. In the evening, I was in the cane cutter's sleeping quarters. The silence of exhaustion reigns. I spoke with Antonio, he told me about his 14 children! It's them of whom he thinks when his machete strikes the cane. I also saw one afternoon, in the middle of the fields, Jijó's hands. They seemed to be beseeching. Burnt, shriveled. You can't drink a coffee in the same manner anymore. The purchase of products coming from equitable trade has become a moral duty.
And the hands reaching down toward the earth, large and callused, to gather the fragrant tobacco leaves. The hands rise and fall to an unvarying rhythm. One would say the motions of prayer. This work produced a pain in the back, an acute and persistent pain that continued, even at night, to cause suffering
Amado, in "Jubiabá", one of his major works, ended the book writing about the uprising of the workers, the strikes and winds of change, the murmur of hope. Some would see in it a puerile literary device, others a prophecy. How not to, in any case, immediately think of the Brazilian president, Luis Iñacio Lula da Silva, the historic head of the Workers Party... "Lula" to the Brazilians, the steelworker from São Paolo, jailed many times, today the head of state. It was the voice and the vote of the people that brought him to power. The voice of the lowest orders of Brazil who dared to believe in his capacity to defend their interest to build for themselves their lot in life. But in Bahia, they also see the intervention of the orixás, the gods of the Candomblé. Is it chance that Ogun, protector of visionary writers, of Amado, is also the god of metal, the patron of iron and the technological civilization, the protector, consequently, of Lula... Whatever it may be, the Candomblé is omnipresent in Salvador. For over four hundred years, in the terreiros (the temples), the gods and men meet to the sound of the tam-tams. There are chants, dances, the audience clapping their hands, entities that appear and take possession of bodies, shaken by spasms, which enter into a trance. The successive powers did not look on it
favorably. The terreiros were considered dangerous. The expression of the black conscience, of a people that were finding their identity and solidarity, a cultural and social cement. Forbidden to practice it, the slaves had to hide their venerations behind the masks of the Catholic saints. They revered Saint Anthony, Saint Georges and Saint Barbara in the churches, Omulù, Xangô, Yémanja in the terreiros. Since the legalization of the religion by Amado, the straw costumes, the pearl masks, the sabers, the gilded headdresses, drums and white robes are hidden less. They are more vibrant than ever, because despite the total absence of proselytizing in the Candomblé, the number of its followers does not cease to grow. Barefooted, the women pounded the beaten earth. The bodies undulated according to ritual. Sweat streaming down, all were gripped by the music and the dance. Gordo was trembling all over and didn't see anything but the confused shapes of the women and the saints and the capricious gods of the faraway forest. The white man stamped his feet; he said to the student: - I can't stand it anymore. I'm going to dance... The saint greeted Jubiaba. Arms forming acute angles honored Ochossi, the god of hunting. Lips clenched, hands, bodies shook, in the delirium of the sacred dance. All of a sudden Ochala - who is the greatest of all the gods and who is divided into two persons: Ochodiyan the young, and Ocholoufan the old - possessed Maria dos Reis, a little fifteen year old Negress, with a virgin and smooth body. She became Ocholoufan, old Ochala, stooped, leaning on a staff of light. When she came out of the small chamber, she was
dressed all in white. The congregation saluted her by prostrating themselves right on the ground (...).
Maybe some would judge that the world of Salvador da Bahia celebrated by Jorge Amado, that of the Blacks, the prostitutes, the poor, corresponds to a conventional image of Brazil. But this world is not a caricature. It is that fringe of society that, more than others, suffers from being ignored, feared and the most often scorned. A lack of attention, of kindness and of respect for which the writer would have compensated. In that, he would have been the magnanimous spokesman for these "little" people, "those fighter men and women, poor without being sorrowful, exploited without being beaten."
N.B : Excerpts from Jorge Amado in italics. Text aids: J.B. Harang, M. Lindon, J. Soulin, J-J. Mandel and C.E. Cobb.
Salvador da Bahia : the world of Jorge Amado. Synopsis. In 1549, Salvador da Bahia was founded first capital of Brazil, by Tome de Souza. For centuries, the city draw its richness from sugar production and slaves trade, even being the most important slaves market of all time. These fruitful business enable Salvador da Bahia to become one of most shining city of the American continent. Today, eventhough most of the city has been classified World Human Patrimony by UNESCO, and its Carnival is the most appreciated of Brazil (ahead of Rio de Janeiro), it's the common people of Salvador who make the city a vibrant and poignant place. Far from the make-up of Carnival and its fake reality for tourists, far from the usual clichés of Brazil which are football, beaches and beautiful women. Moreover, São Salvador da Bahia da Todos os Santos, the Bay of All Saints lives on despite the death of world famous writer Jorge Amado, translated into 54 languages, who passed away in August 2001. Chronicler of the city which he dearly loved, and of which he wrote profusely, his books demonstrate a deep rooted respect for the "people" and for the typical situations experienced by these
residents whose violent lives and histories are also characterized by laughter and sensuality. The choice is given: In addition to an original presentation of Salvador da Bahia, the feature story can be presented as a tribute to the author Jorge Amado. Street life and house interiors, the sugar cane cutters, the impressive elevator which slices the city in two, separating the high from the low, the wealthy areas in the heights of the burg and the poor down below, the boxers, bars, prostitutes, candomblé - Afro-Brazilian cult, chief religion of this land - all of the above are snapshots with which visitors are struck when moving in and around Salvador da Bahia. For those who have thoroughly prepared for their voyage, the influence of the posthumous voice of Jorge Amado, the people's troubador who lived here, was exiled and finally died here, is inevitable. This photo feature pays homage to the literary man, and directly or indirectly, a quotation accompanies each image. The boxer Balduino, protagonist of the book "Jubiabá", first published in 1935, lives on. Mae Preta (which literaly translates to the black mother), the prostitute with whom the author was friend, is a white haired eldress today, and although she no longer really works the streets, she does take in abandoned children and she still likes to strum on her guitar. The famous elevator still works, and continues to represent the social fracture dividing the country still afflicted by a weak economy.
Captions. 2355-01: The main square of the historic quarter of Pelourinho. To the right, the facade of the Nossa Senhora do Rosario dos Pretos Church. This church was founded by slaves in the 18th century. The geographical, cultural and historical epicenter of Salvador de Bahio, this area is reflected in the novels of Jorge Amado: "Suor", etc. The entire old city is now mentioned on Unesco's World Heritage list. 2355-02: A syncretic mass (mixture of several religious trends) punctuated by chants and the use of percussion instruments in the celebration of O dia da Baiana, a day of tribute and celebration of the Baianas, or women, symbols of the negritude of Bahia and followers of the candomble -African Brazilian religion- in which worshippers all dress in white. 2355-03: Seller of roosters in the large working class market of Feira de Sao Joaquim. The Feira de Sao Joaquim is probably the most lively and crowded place in all of Salvador. Here is where the loudest voices and the biggest boasters are to be found. A universe in which workers carry heavy loads and perspire in equivalent quantities. This is the largest market for animals, vegetables and men alike. 2355-04: Bar in the Ladeira da Montanha, the street known for its mafiosis, prostitutes, dealers, and cachaco which sells for 50 centavos. In this bar, no need to consult the drink list, because they serve nothing other than cachaca! 2355-05: In the old city of Salvador da
Bahia, just minutes from the shops where tourists buy souvenir mementos. In his novel, "Suor", describing life in this same neighborhood, Pelourinho in 1928, Jorge Amado wrote: (...) the walls made of planks of wood, the roofs of zinc sheet metal. When the sun beat down, the cabin was on fire. No one could stand the suffocating compartments - a living area, a bedroom and an excuse for a kitchen, which was merely four stones on which the bean pot rested. (...) The owner was the only one to call it a home. The inhabitants would say "my hole". 2355-06: A young girl on the square in front of the Nossa Senhora do Rosario dos Pretos Church (Our Lady of the Rosary of the Black Man) for O dia da Baiana, a day dedicated to the celebration of the Baianas (the women of Bahia), symbols of negritude in Bahia and followers of the candomble religion, a mixture of African and Brazilian influences in which worshippers mandatorily dress in white. 2355-07: In the heart of the old city of Salvador's Pelourinho square, the congregation leaves the church of Nossa Senhora do Rosario dos Pretos after a syncretic mass. O dia da Baiana, day of tribute to the women of Bahia, who represent the state of negritude in Bahia, and to worshipers of candomble, the predominantly African Brazilian religion, in which the color of predilection is white. 2355-08: At night, at a table of the red light district of Salvador da Bahia, the Comercio: beer and prostitutes. When Tome de Souza in 1549 first set foot on the Bay of All Saints to found the city of Salvador, sent by the King of Portugal with a royal delegation of 400 soldiers, 400 settlers, priests and...prostitutes.
Althought city historians would rather forget the fact, prostitutes did play a major role in the foundation of the city, as did the first governor of Brazil. Such women were chosen by Jorge Amado to represent both his literature and the city of Salvador, most remarkably in his novel "Tereza Batista". 2355-09: Around the harbor of Salvador "And what else have I been, said Jorge Amado, than a novelist who recounts the stories of whores and vagabonds {...} And if there is any beauty to be found in what I wrote, it is to be found in these dispossessed individuals, in these women branded by fate, of those who live on the fringes of death {...} 2355-10: Atmosphere in a bar on Saturday evening, in the red light district of Salvador da Bahia: o Comercio. Here, soccer fans come to finish the evening with prostitutes and mugs of beer. Yet other similarities to Amado novels, such scenes suggest "Dona Flor and her two husbands" or "Jubiaba" and the bar itself recalls "The Drowned Man's Lantern". 2355-11: In the old city of Salvador da Bahia, the atmosphere resembles the daily events of a novel by Jorge Amado: "A fetid world, with neither hygiene nor morals, with rats, swear words and people. Workers, soldiers, Arabs and their crippled use of the language, door to door salesmen, thieves, prostitutes, seamstresses, porters, people of all colors and origins, in all sorts of outfits, filled the building. They drank cachaca from Fernandes' and spat in the stairs, where they sometimes also pissed". Unesco has since added the area to the World Heritage list. 2355-12: Symbol of the power of the church and the colonial invader, in total
contradiction with the vow of poverty of its patron saint, the baroque San Francisco church in the old city of Salvador da Bahia displays limitless wealth and splendor. Gold leaf is used like wall paper. Forced to build the church of their masters and prevented from practising their own religion, the craftsmen-slaves from Africa took revenge through their work: their cherubs grimace rather than smile, and some of the angels have oversized genitals, while yet others appear pregnant. 2355-13: An elderly beggarwoman in front of the Nosso Senhor do Bonfim church. Built in 1745, the church has a reputation for producing miraculous healings. This is the most important and most widely venerated church in Salvador 2355-14: The Nosso Senhor do Bonfim church. Built in 1745, this church is known to produce miraculous healings. This is the most important and most widely venerated church in all of Salvador. 2355-15: Nosso Senhor do Bonfim church was built in 1745 and is known for its ability to produce miraculous healings. This place of worship is the most important and most widely admired of all Salvador. For worshipers of the African-Brazilian candomble religion, Nosso Senhor do Bonfim is also the church of Oxala, the father of all Orixas or gods of the candomble. White is the color of predilection in the candomble religion, a color of purity representative of the candomble. For certain members of the older generations, savoir vivre, elegance and good manners are part and parcel of their identity. 2355-16: The cane cutters or farm workers in general are nicknamed "Boias frias" (cold food). Trucks come to pick up
the workers at dawn, dropping them off in the fields, where, to save time and money, they eat cold meals rather than leave the plantations. Each evening, the same trucks take them either back to their villages or to company dormitories. 2355-17-18: Brazil and India compete for the title world's largest sugar producer. In the sixteenth century, colonial Portugal introduced sugar cane into north-eastern Brazil, earning part of its great wealth from the sugar trade, produced at almost no cost with the use of slave labor. Today much has changed, yet in some ways little has changed: although the imperialistic style has changed, being neo-liberal today, the then slaves are now "farm workers". Each worker must cut 3.2 tons of cane per day to meet requirements, otherwise he is fired. The daily production quotas must be reached to receive a salary of 180 Reis per month, the minimum wage in Brazil. For comparative purposes, a one way bus ticket costs 1 Real. 2355-19: The cane harvesting season, called the Safra, lasts six months. This is how long the cane cutters contracts last, and once the harvest is over, they must find other work. Each worker must cut 3.2 tons of cane per day to meet requirements, otherwise he is fired. The daily production quotas must be reached to receive a salary of 180 Reis per month, the minimum wage in Brazil. For comparative purposes, a one way bus ticket costs 1 Real. 2355-20: Before the harvest, the sugar cane fields are burnt to remove excess
greenery and allow the cutters to do their work and avoid snakes. Despite the (often worn out) gloves they wear, the cane cutters hands are blackened by the charred cane and constant rubbing of the machete handlegrip. 2355-21: Brazil and India compete for the title of the world's greatest producer of sugar and by-products such as drinkable alcohol or fuel alcohol. During the sixteenth century, Portuguese settlers brought sugar cane to north eastern Brazil. Dependent upon slave labor, as in the southern United States, the principal source of wealth to the motherland Portugal was the state of Bahia and its sugar crop. 2355-22: The cane cutters or farm workers in general are nicknamed "Boias frias" (cold food). Trucks come to pick up the workers at dawn, dropping them off in the fields, where, to save time and money, they eat cold meals rather than leave the plantations. Each evening, the same trucks take them either back to their villages or to company dormitories. 2355-23: Early evening in a working class neighborhood. 2355-24: Emblematic scenes and symbols visible in Salvador da Bahia: the Bay of All Saints and the Lacerda elevator, which links the cidade alta (the high city) and rich area in which citizens of note built hundreds of churches in the past, to the cidade baixa (lower city) characterized by the port and commercial area, housing former slaves and whores, on the sea. The only escape route was the sea and probably drowning. Although today cheap souvenirs are sold here to tourists, at one time the Mercado Modello (Model Market) stored and sold slaves.
2355-25: Saturday evening in a bar in the Engenho Velho de Brotas quarter. The bar has been temporarily transformed for the night into a dive. Checkers, dominos and card games, beer, bets and cigarettes are among the joint's principal activities. Here a game of buraco is played. The atmosphere recalls the nights spent by Vadinho, an inveterate gambler and hero of an Amado novel "Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands". 2355-26: Saturday evening in a bar in the Engenho Velho de Brotas quarter. The bar has been temporarily transformed for the night into a dive. Checkers, dominos and card games, beer, bets and cigarettes are among the joint's principal activities. Here a game of buraco is played. The atmosphere recalls the nights spent by Vadinho, an inveterate gambler and hero of an Amado novel "Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands". 2355-27: A beach popular with working class crowds, the Ondina, located between the neighborhoods of Barra and Rio Vermelho. Rio Vermelho is also the quarter in which the Iemanja temple is located. The temple is dedicated to the goddess or orixa as she is known in the candomble African Brazilian religion of the sea. She protects families, children and fishing, and her preferred color is light blue. 2355-28: In the Bay of All Saints in Salvador da Bahia, a saveiro (a boat with a rectangular sail typical of northern Brazil). On board the coastal hugging ship, two men, one black, one white, return to the village of Maragogipe, inland but along the river, the Reconcavo. The same destination, and same type of vessel are used in a surprising manner by
two very similar protagonists in a description written by Jorge Amado in his novel "Jubiaba": the black man could replace hero and boxer Antonio Balduino. 2355-29: In the bay surrounding Salvador da Bahia, the Bay of all Saints, a saveiro (a boat with a rectangular sail typical of northern Brazil). On board the coastal hugging ship, two men, one black, one white, return to the village of Maragogipe, inland but along the river, the Reconcavo. The same destination, and same type of vessel are used in a surprising manner by two very similar protagonists in a description written by Jorge Amado in his novel "Jubiaba": the black man could replace hero and boxer Antonio Balduino. 2355-30: View of the old city of Salvador da Bahia, figuring on the World Heritage List published by Unesco. 2355-31: "His eight years did not prevent him from already being the head of a gang of kids which wandered over the hill of Chate Negro and other nearby hills. (...)What he didn't want to miss was the first lights of the day: a revelation always renewed and always beautiful". Among the first lines of a novel by Jorge Amado "Jubiaba". 2355-32: Emblematic scenes and symbols visible in Salvador da Bahia: the Bay of All Saints and the Lacerda elevator, which links the cidade alta (the high city) and rich area in which citizens of note built hundreds of churches in the past, to the cidade baixa (lower city) characterized by the port and commercial area, housing former slaves and whores, on the sea. The only escape route was the sea and probably drowning. Although today cheap souvenirs are sold here to tourists, at one time the Mercado Modello (Model Market)
stored and sold slaves. 2355-33: Inside a boxing academy of former world champions Luis Carlos Dorea and Acelino Freitas aka Popo. A hero of mythical proportions in Salvador de Bahia, Antonio Balduino, a tall muscular black man, was the main protagonist of Amado's novel "Jubiaba". 2355-34: "Balduino was satisfied as he observed the white man lying at his feet. Then he drew his gaze upwards towards the inquisitive eyes of the crowd which cheered him on, seeking anyone who would dare claim he was no longer triumphant over white men". A few lines describing Antonio Balduino, a black boxer and hero of Jorge Amado's novel "Jubiaba". A boxing ring in a working class neighborhood in Salvador. 2355-35: November 20 is a special date in Salvador da Bahia, corresponding to what elsewhere in Brazil is known as the Day of the Black Conscience "O Dia da Consencia Negra". For this event, the major percussion groups such as Olodum, Ile Aye and Dida parade through the streets playing their instruments and recalling the music of the slaves. 2355-36-37: Festivities in a working class neighborhood. 2355-38: The newest consecrated cultural representative of Salvador da Bahia is musician Carlinhos Brown. Today he is considered among the best percussionists in the world. Author, composer, singer, and drummer, he is an energetic creative force in himself. He is
as talented a musician as he is an agent provocateur and source of social unrest. Born in the quarter of Candeal, one of the poorest in Salvador, he has set up his own recording studios in the same neighborhood today, as well as his concert arena. Every Sunday, Brown gives concerts here, and the wealthy populations of Salvador de Bahia and all of Brazil compete to attend the events, despite their being held in a poor neighborhood. 2355-39: Facing a badly maintained building used as a shelter for the homeless, Mae Preta (Black Mother), a former prostitute working in Pelourinho in the 1920's to 60's, announces a free meal while playing with the other residents. Today, no other street in Salvador da Bahia has a worse reputation than the Ladeira da Montanha, and although the setting has been transferred from Pelourinho to Ladeira da Montanha, eighty years later, the events which take place in Jorge Amado's novel "Suor" are still applicable to today's way of life in Salvador. 2355-40: Facing one of the streets doted with the worst reputation in all of Salvador da Bahia, the Ladeira da Montanha, a man and his son sleep in a homeless refuge, called the Mae Preta shelter (the black mother). A former prostitute from the Pelourinho quarter in the 1920's to the 1960's, she knew Jorge Amado, who frequented prostitutes and the world of the common people, sharing their misery and their lot restricting them to day to day survival. This world and the people inhabiting it inspired his novel "Suor". 2355-41: Picked up off the streets and now living in a shelter for the homeless in one of the streets enjoying the worst
reputation of all Salvador da Bahia, the Ladeira da Montanha, is this young boy, abandoned by his mother, a prostitute. Some call him "son of a whore". 2355-42: Mae Preta (Black Mother), a former prostitute working in Pelourinho in the 1920's to 60's, who well knew Jorge Amado, at home. 2355-43: The Quinta dos Lazaros cemetery competes with the Camp Santo cemetery for the honor of the classification as oldest graveyard of Salvador da Bahia. Burial is free, and the former is most cherished by members of the working class. For the most part, the graves are nameless. The deceased are buried for six months, the bodies then exhumed to make room for the new dead.
Bahia and its sugar crop. 2355-47: Working class open market at Feira de Sao Joaquim, in which countless workers carry produce and perspire abundantly. The site is a major fair grounds and sale area for animals and vegetables attracting huge crowds. 2355-48: 1, Liberty Street, the neighborhood of Salvador da Bahia with the largest black population. 2355-49: Alley way in Salvador da Bahia.
the old city of
2355-50: Gypsies and fortune tellers in a camp ground on the outskirts of Salvador. According to this family, their ancestors came to Brazil from Egypt.
2355-44: An old man on a bench in the Pelourinho quarter. The black population of Salvador surpasses 75% of the total population.
2355-51: Gypsies and fortune tellers in a camp ground on the outskirts of Salvador. According to this family, their ancestors came to Brazil from Egypt.
2355-45: Working class open market at Feira de Sao Joaquim, in which countless workers carry produce and perspire abundantly. The site is a major fair grounds and sale area for animals and vegetables attracting huge crowds.
2355-52: A candomble ceremony (African Brazilian religion) celebrated in honor of Ere, the spirit of children. Song, dance, percussions, costumes and transes in which spirits appear through bodies of participants all play an important role. Among the specific characteristics of the candomble: 1) No clear moral division between the notions of Good and Evil 2) No will to either evangelize or convert others to belief in candomble. Far from being a religion on the way out, the candomble is very much present in the cultural, religious, artistic and social life in Bahia.
2355-46: The immense and hugely popular Feira de Sao Joaquim market is inhabited by countless workers heaving heavy loads of produce. Brazil and India compete for the title of the world's tip sugar producer and sugar by-products such as drinkable alcohol and fuel alcohol. During the sixteenth century, Portuguese settlers brought sugar cane to north eastern Brazil. Dependent upon slave labor, as in the southern United States, the principal source of wealth to the motherland Portugal was the state of
2355-53: A woman entering a state of transe is possessed by a spirit during a candomble ceremony. This African Brazilian religious ceremony is celebrated
in honor of Ere, the spirit of children and childhood. The uses of song, dance, percussion, costumes and trances punctuate the ceremony. 2355-54: An African Brazilian candomble religious ceremony is celebrated in honor of Ere, spirit of children and childhood. Song, dance, percussions, costumes and transes in which spirits appear through bodies of participants all play an important role. Among the specific characteristics of the candomble: 1) No clear moral division between the notions of Good and Evil 2) No will to either evangelize or convert others to belief in candomble. Far from being a religion on the way out, the candomble is very much present in the cultural, religious, artistic and social life in Bahia.. 2355-55: During a candomble ceremony, a religion of African and Brazilian origins. 2355-56: A card game shared by fishermen at the small port area of Rio Vermelho, a site which inspired many scenes in the novels written by Jorge Amado. 2355-57: The quarter of Alagados, in which shaky huts on stilts are perched above stagnant brackish waters and in which a portion of the population of Salvador lives, well below the poverty line. Pope John Paul II, after visiting the area considered that what was needed was a church to be built. It now stands on the banks of the very same neighborhood today.