Exhibit opening features culture

The exhibition of two new photographic galleries at the Mathers Museum created a scene of feast, culture and celebration Tuesday.\nAn energetic performance of Capoeria Angola by Grupo Acupe, a local South American dance troupe, complemented the display.\nThe exhibit, "Dancing the Ancestors: Carnival in South America," began with a sampling of food sponsored by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. The center featured a wide variety of dishes, including pukakapas (a type of filled pastry), a crowd favorite.\nOne hundred people attended the celebration to learn about Carnival, a week-long festival in many South American towns. Several lectures educated students and Bloomington residents about the festival.\n"(La Carnival) is a time when imagination and iconography come together in a grand display of beauty and creativity," the first presenter, assistant professor Pravina Shukla, said.\nShukla began her slideshow presentation, "Mahatma's Samba," by explaining she had roots in India and felt compelled to discuss the "Filhos de Gandhy" or "Sons of Gandhi."\nShe said "Filhos de Gandhy" is a group of 5,000 men who parade during the Carnival in Salvador, Brazil. Members dress in an outfit that "pays homage to Gandhi and his quest for liberation," Shukla said.\n"Carnival is also a time for the celebration of black pride and heritage," she said.\nShukla said that while this Carnival attracted more than 150 groups and is typically a joyous festival, violence can result from competition or the vanity of certain groups.\n"Carnival is an experience of Afro-Brazilian identity," Shukla said. She said strong emphasis is placed on blending Nigerian gods with the Catholic religion that was brought to Brazil by the Portuguese.\nShukla presented slides of the colorful bead-laden dresses and outfits worn by participants in Salvador's parade and celebration of Carnival in Brazil. She said the city of the celebration dictates the tone of the festival.\n"(In Salvador) you are out dancing in the streets, experiencing it with your body, not watching it," Shukla said. \nPlaying host to the "Carnival" exhibit allowed a venue for regional artists to exhibit their work. Judith Kirk, assistant director of the Mathers Museum, said events such as this help bridge the gap between the University and the community.\n"We've been doing program-specific development for the last couple of years with kids' activities on the weekend, and adult activities during the week," Kirk said. "We're very lucky to be able to display the scholarship of some of the faculty this time." \nJohn McDowell, professor of folklore and director of the folklore institute, followed Shukla's presentation with his lecture, "Kamsa Carnival in Sibundoy, Colombia." He flashed a slide portraying a nearly full bus in a rural area and asked the audience to take a ride with him. Glancing around the room jokingly before turning back to the slide, McDowell commented, "Should have enough room. Everyone usually fits."\nOnce embarked upon this virtual tour, McDowell showed images of a small village nestled in the Sibundoy Valley in Colombia, an environment as rural as Salvador was urban. \n"As you can see, this is a very indigenous area," McDowell said. "Many old traditions are still practiced in ceremony."\nPreparing those in attendance for a different version of Carnival, McDowell's landscape consisted of lush mountains crossed by meandering streams and wooden footbridges.\n"This is a place of storytelling," McDowell said as the audience viewed slides of thatched homes. Images of the Kamsa, who wore feather crowns to celebrate Carnival, were shown to assist McDowell in explaining that Carnival in Sibundoy Valley is about ancestors and the story of the founding of civilization in the valley. \n"This is a day that belongs to the Indians," McDowell said, while detailing the music and dancing practices of the festival in which families travel from house to house, singing. \n"Basically, dancing continues for three or four days or until the chicha (a native beverage) runs out," McDowell said.\nAfter the speech, the Capoeria Angola group took center stage. It began a dance of martial arts and music in a combination of swinging body movements, singing and cheers. \nJunior Rayna Marotti said she came to see the group perform.\n"Capoeria Angola is really one of the best things I've ever seen," she said. "It's art in motion." \nComposed of 18 members from Brazil, Bloomington and Indianapolis, the group features percussion instruments. Two members spar in a dance, mimicking a battle, and then shake hands at the conclusion, while music plays in the background. \nMember Jeffery "Tadpole" Hoffer said the group, which practices at Harmony Elementary School, hopes to increase involvement by its public performances.\n"We hope that the music is hypnotizing and contagious," he said. "It brings forth the spirits from the past"