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| Afoxé Filhos de Gandhy | |
|---|---|
| Name | Afoxé Filhos de Gandhy |
| Origin | Salvador, Bahia, Brazil |
| Years active | 1949–present |
| Genre | Afoxé, Afro-Brazilian, Candomblé, Samba |
| Associated acts | Ilê Aiyê, Olodum, Grupo Cultural do Samba |
Afoxé Filhos de Gandhy is an Afro-Brazilian afoxé group founded in Salvador, Bahia, that blends Candomblé-derived ritual music, Brazilian carnival performance, and anti-colonial political symbolism. The group is renowned for its annual participation in the Salvador Carnival, its use of Yoruba-derived rhythmic patterns, and its historical ties to anti-racist and nationalist movements in Brazil.
Founded in 1949 during the late Vargas Era, the group emerged amid broader Afro-Brazilian mobilizations involving figures like Gilberto Freyre, Jorge Amado, and Abdias do Nascimento and institutions such as the Federação das Organizações de Carnaval and the Centro Cultural Brasil-Africa. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s Filhos de Gandhy interacted with samba schools like Portela and Mangueira and with cultural movements including Negritude, Pan-Africanism, and the Movimento Negro Unificado while navigating censorship under the Brazilian military regime and the 1964 coup. In the 1970s and 1980s the group formed alliances with Ilê Aiyê, Olodum, and Samba schools from Rio de Janeiro and participated in debates at universities including Universidade Federal da Bahia and Fundação Casa de Jorge Amado. Since the 1990s Filhos de Gandhy has engaged with international festivals featuring groups like Grupo Cultural de Santo Amaro and scholars from institutions such as Museu Afro-Brasileiro and Instituto Casa de Rui Barbosa.
The name references Mahatma Gandhi and was inspired by transnational anti-colonial currents linking leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Marcus Garvey, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Kwame Nkrumah, as well as intellectuals like Sérgio Buarque de Holanda and Roberto DaMatta who wrote on Brazilian identity. Founders drew on Afro-Brazilian liturgical traditions from Candomblé houses led by Babalorixás and Ialorixás, and on traditions present in neighborhoods like Pelourinho and Itapuã in Salvador, connecting to the broader African diaspora movements evident in Havana, Lagos, Accra, and Harlem. The use of white clothing, turbans, and the atiê (sash) reflects syncretic practices related to Orixás such as Oxalá and linked performances in Recife and Rio de Janeiro.
Musically the group performs afoxé repertoire characterized by ijexá rhythms, atabaque patterns, and calls derived from Yoruba liturgy, sharing rhythmic structures with samba-reggae ensembles like Olodum and samba schools such as Portela and Mangueira. Repertoire includes songs adapted from Candomblé cantos, sambas de roda, and compositions by Bahian composers like Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and Dorival Caymmi, alongside arrangements influenced by composers associated with Tropicália and MPB. Instrumentation centers on agogô, atabaque, xequerê, and timbal, and vocal arrangements echo call-and-response practices found in quilombola communities, capoeira rodas, and maracatu nação groups.
Filhos de Gandhy has functioned as a cultural symbol of Afro-Brazilian identity, aligning with activists and organizations such as Movimento Negro Unificado, Frente de Mulheres Negras, and cultural institutions including Fundação Palmares and Museu Afro-Brasileiro. The group's adoption of Gandhian imagery entered debates involving historians, politicians, and artists including Abdias do Nascimento, Lélia Gonzalez, Nina Rodrigues, and Mário de Andrade about race, nation, and cultural heritage. Their carnival presence has been a platform for protest alongside trade unions, student movements at Universidade de São Paulo and Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, and international human rights forums, engaging interlocutors like UNESCO and the Pan African Congress.
Leadership has included presidents and mestres drawn from Salvador's cultural milieu, collaborating with artists and intellectuals such as Dorival Caymmi, Dorival Caymmi, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Jorge Amado, and writers and activists associated with Afoxé circles and Candomblé communities. Over decades the group has counted singers, percussionists, and community organizers who liaised with cultural managers from Secretaria de Cultura do Estado da Bahia and researchers from Universidade Federal da Bahia, and who collaborated with contemporaries at Ilê Aiyê, Olodum, and the Centro de Cultura Afro-Brasileira.
Afoxé Filhos de Gandhy is a fixture of Salvador Carnival parades in the Centro Histórico and Pelourinho, and has appeared at festivals such as Rio Carnival, Festival de Jazz de Montreux, WOMAD, and events hosted by Fundação Casa de Jorge Amado and Museu Afro-Brasileiro. The group has performed at venues including Teatro Castro Alves, Maracanãzinho, Parque do Ibirapuera, and international stages in Lisbon, Dakar, New York, and London, sharing lineups with artists like Milton Nascimento, Maria Bethânia, Tim Maia, and groups such as Samba de Roda ensembles, maracatu groups, and capoeira academies.
Recordings include studio and live tracks released on labels connected to regional music scenes and catalogues that document Afro-Brazilian performance alongside compilations featuring tracks by Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, and Baden Powell. Field recordings and archival releases have been preserved by institutions such as Museu Afro-Brasileiro, Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa, Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional, and ethnomusicologists affiliated with Universidade Federal da Bahia and Museu Nacional.
Category:Afro-Brazilian music groups Category:Salvador, Bahia Category:Brazilian Carnival groups