26 November 2014
Capoeira roda gets UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage status
This has been long overdue – and today it has become official… The Capoeira roda is in UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
One of the benefits this is expected to bring will be to give Capoeira mestres a more dignified existence, because until now they couldn’t even get a pension, despite their, where possible, full time and lifelong dedication and devotion to the art. As it’s well known, many mestres have lived and died in poverty – including the greats Mestre Pastinha and Mestre Bimba.
The Capoeira roda joins the following Brazilian cultural expressions in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity:
Samba of Roda from Recôncavo Baiano,
Oral and graphic expressions of the Wajapi,
Yaokwa, the Enawene Nawe people’s ritual for the maintenance of social and cosmic order
Frevo, performing arts of the Carnival of Recife and
Círio de Nazaré (The Taper of Our Lady of Nazareth) in the city of Belém, Pará
Video from the UNESCO website(English):
Video from the Brazilian Ministry of Culture(Portuguese)
Here are some links on the announcement:
From the Brazilian Ministry of Culture (this link no longer seems to work – Nov 2022)
BBC News
On the Jornal Nacional (video) (this link no longer seems to work – Nov 2022)
On Facebook