Art for social and political change: 2025 Workshop
The 20205 Rede Nordestina workshop brought together partners from Brazil and the UK to share experiences of their initiatives at the intersection of art and social and political change. The workshop featured four prominent artists and teachers who work with Northeastern Brazilian artforms that they have learnt through a lifetime of study and experience. These artforms are often termed ‘popular art’ in Portuguese. In English, the terms ‘folk’/’folkloric’ in the sense of art by the people and for the people capture something of the significance, but these are not quaint traditions; they are rooted in their heritage as Afro-Brazilian or Indigenous arts and their origins in Brazil’s Northeast.
Resistance in the Northeast
The Northeast of Brazil is a region shaped by resistance. It is an area that has faced years of political and economic marginalisation, historic droughts, and the resulting forced out-migration – a theme that has contemporary resonances with the adaptations imposed by climate change. The region is also shaped by Brazil’s layered inequalities and the legacy of its colonial past. For many artists, resistance is the activity of keeping going, creating art, investing in community and change in the face of relentless challenges. Contemporary Brazil, including the Northeast, grapples with uneven governance, pervasive racism, sexism, and divisive religious politics.
Art as Space for Reflection and Influence
A central theme emerging from all the presentations was not just the understanding that art is inherently political, but that the origin of the art provides a specific perspective that is channelled through its practice. Art of Afro-Brazilian or Indigenous heritage is born from struggle, and from the need to reiterate identity, community and history in a social and political context that is dominated by European priorities. Similarly, musical instruments crafted from forest materials do not produce neutral sounds; they channel histories, values and perspectives drawn from the experience of people living in, and interacting with, the forest.
All the artists underscored that artistic practice serves at least a dual purpose: it is a vital space for personal and community reflection for the creators, and it acts as a powerful mobiliser and source of influence for change within and beyond their communities.
The Everyday Struggle and Collective Action
The struggle for these artists is an everyday reality, constantly difficult and incomplete, and sometimes resulting in setbacks. While the activities related in the workshop have their victories, the artists were also realistic about the fact that they confront harsh and overwhelming injustices.
How each artist practises or mobilises around their art differs, but there are common elements: first, art provides mechanisms to bring people together, to create and participate in community, and to perform to each other and to others. Second, artistic groups are formed of people with some outlooks and experiences in common – as everyday as where they live – and who also contest values, opinions and understandings. These points of contact and contestation provide the start of an artistic conversation, assertion and exercise of resistance.
The following four blogs detail the work of four Northeastern Brazilian artists and their engagement with social and political change.
