January 4, 2023

11:01

Mencius Melo – Amazon Agency

MANAUS – The singer from Bahia and social activist Margareth Menezes was officially sworn in as Brazil’s new Minister of Culture on Monday, 2 in Brasilia. In a speech during the solemnity, the new minister stressed the dismantling and the importance of resuming the portfolio. CENARIUM heard some artists from the North to learn about their expectations for the reconstruction of the Minc and public policies for culture in Brazil.

For the Pará singer and composer Nilson Chaves, the return of the Ministry of Culture is an act of great symbolism. “Recreating the Ministry of Culture is to symbolically rekindle the renewal of our own culture itself. Not only music, but all manifestations and segments”, he highlighted. For the artist from Pará, the new minister can do a good job. “I do not know Margareth as a manager, but, if she is in charge, it is because she has the capacity. I am rooting for her”, he said.

For João Fernandes, the Casarão de Ideias, one of the most respected cultural managers of Manaus, the time is to rebuild. “The structure that is today of what would be the Minc is completely scrapped. There were many mistakes, unfocused norms, extinctions and unprepared people, but I believe in Margareth. She has put together a prepared team and should already be articulating a budget for 2023”, he highlighted.

Note

Optimistic, João Fernandes makes some reservations. “I think that many paths already existed before Bolsonaro, so there is no need to invent things, because in this first year we have to try, minimally, to make culture come back with dignity, to support the workers of the sector. Paying the delayed edicts, getting rid of the pile of Rouanet Law projects that are locked up in some dark room. Just by doing this, we will already be giving a great economic impulse”, he evaluated.

The manager also pointed to the absence of the North in the composition of Margareth Menezes’ team as something to be reviewed. “I noticed the absence of names from the North. At first glance, we do not have in the portfolio, no person from the North. It is not a question of benefiting us, but of knowing how we do culture here. I believe that this will be reviewed in the near future”, he commented.

Bridges

The president of the Municipal Council of Culture of Manaus (Concultura), Tenório Telles believes that good times will come in the cultural context in this new government. “The cultural process is a permanent construction, which requires sensitivity, rationality and hard work. In relation to the cycle that is beginning, it is expected that bridges will be built, new dialogues and, especially, actions and projects capable of expanding the opportunities for society to access cultural goods”, he analysed.

Tenório believes that a package of policies can help inclusion and the resumption of the strength of the economy produced by culture. “In parallel, it is imperative to formulate public policies that contemplate the promotion and training of young talent and social inclusion. We hope that everything proceeds productively and with good results for all those who work in the cultural segment and for society”, he concluded.