Breaking. Occupations of Ministry of Culture buildings are spreading throughout Brazil, as street level resistance to the government of Michel Temer grows. Here is a report from Minas Gerais.
From the Facebook page of Brazilian musician and activist Makey Ka. Translated from the Portuguese by Dan Hanrahan. May 17, 2016.
I am here at an occupation*, we do not recognize the legitimacy of the Temer government, we are working on a proposal to create a parallel organization to the Ministry of Culture (which the Temer government has eliminated), one created by civil society, we are practicing civil disobedience, and are subject to a police invasion which could occur at any moment.
Here there are people under a diverse range of banners–anarchists, feminists, Black activists, indigenous activists, LGBT’s, the homeless, people practicing all the artistic disciplines, from various sections of the city, the metropolitan area and the interior of the state.
There is an intensive program of the activities occurring – classes, debates, shows, meetings, and performances, film screenings, dance rehearsals, theater and music. There are committees responsible for cleaning, security, food, communication, programming and political statements. We are giving to this National Foundation of Arts space the use it always should have had. This afternoon the FUNARTE headquarters in São Paulo was occupied. FUNARTE in Rio and Curitiba have already been occupied. A hashtag uniting al the occupations is #ForaTemer (TemerOut).
There is an intensive program of the activities occurring – classes, debates, shows, meetings, and performances, film screenings, dance rehearsals, theater and music. There are committees responsible for cleaning, security, food, communication, programming and political statements. We are giving to this National Foundation of Arts space the use it always should have had. This afternoon the FUNARTE headquarters in São Paulo was occupied. FUNARTE in Rio and Curitiba have already been occupied. A hashtag uniting al the occupations is #ForaTemer (TemerOut).
But it is striking how the PT (Workers Party of the ousted President Dilma) is able to sabotage all of the resistance initiatives with its lack of self-critique. Is it that they want to maintain the narrative of the coup liberating and, even moreso, incentivizing an alliance with the PMDB (Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, founded in 1981) in the upcoming municipal elections? It is unbelievable. For these and for other reasons I believe we need an arts organization based in civil society, unrelated to the government.
*of the FUNARTE Center of Brazilian National Foundation of the Arts in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais
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