As Brazil’s President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva prepares to take office next month, the country’s cultural sector has high hopes of repairing the damage done by his right-wing populist predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. Art Newspaper reports.
On his first day in office, in 2019, Bolsonaro dissolved Brazil’s Ministry of Culture, a move that da Silva, known throughout the country as “Lula,” promised to reverse during his election campaign. The cultural group is also hoping that Rouenne Act funding, a federal tax incentive that funds cultural projects, will get a much-needed dose in the arm.
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During this time in office, Bolsonaro cut funding for the Rouñé law by more than half, alleging that it “promotes corruption,” and appointed right-wing cultural figures with little or no experience to prominent positions. Among them was the theater director Roberto Alvim, who took the post of Minister of Culture.
Alvim I refused Then, in a video posted to Twitter to promote a National Prize for the Arts, he paraphrased the words of Nazi propaganda mastermind Joseph Goebbels. Alvim claimed the incident was a “rhetorical coincidence” in a video posted to Facebook. Unfortunately for him, the apology was recorded in Richard Wagner’s operas lohengrin, One of Adolf Hitler’s favorite pieces of music.
Lula has not yet appointed a Minister of Culture, but according to Art Newspaper “Singers Daniela Mercury and Chico Cesar, politicians Jandira Feghali, Manuel Rangel and Juca Ferreira, all of whom have previous experience in managing cultural projects.”
The left-leaning Lula, who served as president from 2003 to 2010, is hugely popular in Brazil for helping lift millions of Brazilians out of poverty. However, he regained the presidency by the slightest of margins – he Less than 51 percent received from voting. This will be his third term as President of Brazil.
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