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This is a commissioned playlist for Ubuntu - I Am Because We Are exhibition by Brazilian photographer André François. The show will run from Monday, 20th of November, to 01st of December at Sala Brasil, Embassy of Brazil in London. Free entrance. You can find details here.
How do people care for each other after an earthquake in Haiti or a tsunami in Japan? How do countries like Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi organise themselves to care for so many people needing basic help every day? How do their health, culture and education concepts help when the pain seems unbearable?
Brazilian photographer and social entrepreneur André François has already travelled more than 230 thousand kilometres, shooting the many ways of 'care' he has found on his journeys.
From Yanomami indigenous lands in the Amazon, north of Brazil, to places like Haiti after the earthquake, Japan after the tsunami, and China. François also went to Africa, travelling to Mozambique, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, and other countries up to the events of the pandemic in 2020. It was in Africa that André discovered Ubuntu, a local philosophy. He explains how it has shaped his work:
Ubuntu is an ancient philosophy that means 'I am because we are'. This is very powerful [...] and is present in all photo documentaries and books I've created. Because, deep down, when we talk about connecting with people, about being able to look at others, it's precisely that: I am because we are. I feel fulfilled when we all feel fulfilled. I've spent more than ten years travelling around many places to understand these connections of 'us' and combine them into a body of work that could inspire people to think more about that.
Now, André François launches his book Ubuntu – I am Because We Are, a journey through 15 countries where he was inspired by communities working on education, health, and culture. His work will be exhibited in London starting this Monday at Sala Brasil, Embassy of Brazil (14-16 Cockspur Street SW1Y SBL). You can get your free tickets for the opening on the 20th here. André will also be signing books at the event.
// THE PLAYLIST
But where would a connection be between Brazilian music and the work that André now presents in London?
It was something he said in a TEDx talk - "to care, we first need to look at each other" - that made me see the link: many times, Brazilian music sings about multiple existences, in which the concepts of 'self' and 'other' are in communion, becoming just 'us' and giving way to a collective dream.
In Canção Para Quando Você Voltar, the Brazilian composer Leoni sings about how he intends to take care of his friend, the musician Herbert Vianna when Vianna leaves the hospital and returns home. The group O Rappa defines in just one short sentence the healing power that others have in us in their song, Uma Ajuda. Emicida reflects on how a friend can save us in Quem Tem Amigo Tem Tudo.
Caring for others should be the ultimate goal of any political activity. Zé do Caroço, by Leci Brandão, is an exponent of this idea, as is Gente, by Caetano Veloso ("We are meant to shine, not to starve").
Recognising that we wouldn't be what we are without the existence of others also holds a place in music made in Brazil. Paratodos, by Chico Buarque, and O Samba é Meu Dom, by Wilson das Neves, are two examples that honour different artists and their importance in the lives of these two legends of Brazilian music.
Contemporary artists LuizGa from Minas Gerais and the French-Brazilian group Cao Laru imagine the possibilities of collective existence in 1986 and Não Estaremos Sós, respectively. They are dreamy songs, which reminded me of the definition of Ubuntu given by Professor Wanderson Flor on the Filosofia Pop podcast:
Almost all Bantu thinkers - from this region of the African continent that originated the word Ubuntu - try to explain the difficulty of translating Ubuntu into any other language. But they try to show how thinking with Ubuntu would lead us to understand that our humanity is always interconnected. Ubuntu does not assume individuals as a reference for thinking about what is human, but a collective that ends up building the identity and subjectivity of individuals. There is much more to humanity than homosapiens. Ubuntu is everything that has agency, transforms nature, communicates, and acts in some way that interferes with the movement of things.
Inspired by Flor's words, I thought it worth bringing songs that provoke us to feel Ubuntu more broadly - such as Firmamento, by the group Cidade Negra, Um Índio, by Caetano Veloso, and Xote Ecológico, by Luiz Gonzaga.
I hope you enjoy listening to Ubuntu Exhibition - The Playlist:
// ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eduardo Lemos is a music journalist, playlist curator for businesses and co-founder of the record label Pequeno Imprevisto. Having worked in many different roles across the industry in the last ten years, Eduardo had the opportunity to collaborate with artists such as Milton Nascimento, Paralamas, Da Lata, and many contemporary names from Latin America, Europe and the UK. He is the artistic director of the show Lua Rosa, in which Brazilian musicians perform their interpretations of Nick Drake's songs. As a music journalist, he has interviewed music legends such as Gilberto Gil, Arnaldo Baptista and Beto Guedes, and indie artists like Kings of Convenience, Tim Bernardes, Perotá Chingó, and many more. He writes monthly articles for the Brazilian Union of Composers (UBC) website and magazine. Eduardo is also the creator of the newsletter Distante, wherein he writes about music and immigration. He was born in Brazil and currently lives in London, UK.
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