Listening to the Echoes of the South Atlantic Listening to the Echoes of the South Atlantic | Page 12

recent music, with its roots in Macumba and Catimbó indigenous music traditions,
helps to invoke the respective spirits while Cássio Bomfim styles and directs the
performers to embody these different spirits.
Throughout his work, Cássio Bomfim devises a fictional cosmology by exploring the
nuances and similarities between the codes, rituals, and archetypes of the Brazilian
Umbanda religion. As he explains it, during the colonial era, Portugal and Spain
forbade all religious practices that deviated from the Catholic Church. It was
within this context that religious syncretism developed, which involved translating
spiritual rituals, gods, and ritualistic acts of indigenous and African origin into
Catholic codes, in order to ensure their continued existence and veneration. This
phenomenon contributed to the convoluted relations between Catholic saints and
the Orishas, the Yoruban gods, and other African cosmological beliefs. Each Orisha
became associated with a saint, or even several saints. The Exu, on the other hand,
are messengers in the Candomblé religious tradition, who are called on to mediate
between the material and immaterial worlds, thereby establishing communication
between the two sides. In Umbanda, the Exu plays a pivotal role on streets, at
cemeteries, and in road crossings. Situating these beliefs within a contemporary
context, Bomfim integrates the motoboy figure into his narratives, the ubiquitous
figure of transport and communication in Brazil, basically understood as an Exu in a
contemporary guise.
Bomfim constructs narratives and situations that raise awareness about the need to
challenge historical and cultural stigmas. His interest in Afro-Brazilian, Christian,
and Indian cultural and religious practices and rituals, northern Brazilian folklore and
pop culture, combined with contemporary art practice and handcrafted garments,
has resulted in colorful, humorous, and also deeply spiritual works that ask us to
question Western-centric narratives.
(Left and Right) Cássio Bomfim Salve Exu Motoboy.
Funk carioca, a musical genre with very specific sociopolitical and cultural implications,
is the recurring soundtrack of Bomfim’s work. With its distinct street vibe that brings
to mind the urban sensibility of reggaeton heard throughout the Spanish-speaking
Caribbean and Latin America, funk carioca speaks powerfully, and specifically about
life in Rio’s concrete jungle. Sometimes referred to as favela funk, funk carioca was
born in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, and is inspired by Miami bass and gangsta rap