Manipulating the Sacred: Yorùbá Art, Ritual, and Resistance in Brazilian Candomblé

African American Life

by Mikelle S. Omari-Tunkara

At a time when the art of the African diaspora has aroused much general interest for its multicultural dimensions, Mikelle Smith Omari-Tunkara contributes strikingly rich insights as a participant/observer in the African-based religions of Brazil. She focuses on the symbolism and function of ritual objects and costumes used in the Brazilian candomblé (miniature "African" environments or temples) of the Bahia region, which combine Yoruba, Bantu/Angola, Caboclo, Roman Catholic, and/or Kardecist/Spiritist elements. An initiate herself with more than twenty years of study, the author is considered an insider, and has witnessed how practitioners manipulate the "sacred" to encode, in art and ritual, vital knowledge about meaning, values, epistemologies, and history. She demonstrates how this manipulation provides Brazilian descendents of slaves with a sense of agency with a link to their African heritage and a locus for resistance to the dominant Euro-Brazilian culture.

Genres: Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2002

Reviews

[Roger Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provides excellent coverage of Candomblé in Bahia as well as explicit comparisons to Yoruba religion in Africa. Omari-Tunkara argues that that religious practices in ilês axés help to preserve groups marginalized by racial oppression in Brazil while offering solidarity and resistance against mainstream forces.