THE MATRICES OF THE RIO DE JANEIRO SAMBA AND CARNIVAL

SOME REFLECTIONS ON IMMATERIAL PATRIMONY

Abstract

This work seeks to investigate the Rio de Janeiro samba and the document produced by the Cartola Cultural Center so as to register the matrices of the Rio de Janeiro samba as an immaterial asset in the Book of Forms of Expression created by IPHAN (The National Institute of Historic and Artistic Patrimony) in 2000. With that in mind, I have sought to understand the various expressions of this musical genre and its narrative, melodic and timbre changes which have converted it from marginal music into a symbol of Brazilianness, and have turned it into the rhythm of the greatest Brazilian celebration: Carnival. I understand that this process took place in consonance with political, social and urban changes undergone by the city of Rio de Janeiro in the first decades of the twentieth century and that, the inventory and register of the matrices of the Rio de Janeiro samba resulted, not only from the desire of the samba dancers community, but also from the community’s exchange of ideas with intellectuals and public administrators. In addition to that, such policy addressed to the preservation and safeguard of immaterial assets merges with urbanistic policies and projects aiming at transforming certain city spaces into actual open air museums. Such is the case of the Open Air Museum of Providence Hill and of the construction of the Samba City, which show a concern with the area’s revitalization, real estate valuation, and the increase of the tourism industry.