Ilê Aiyê

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Members of the bloco afro Ilê Ayê at the carnival.

The Brazilian music and cultural group Ilê Aiyê ( Yoruba for “the world”, also: ilê for “home”, aiyê for “forever, forever”; the full name is Associação Cultural Bloco Carnavalesco Ilê Aiyê) is the second oldest (first The group was the Filhos de Gandhy ) Afro-Bloc in Salvador da Bahia . At the carnival , he plays his own mix of Sambareggae and Afoxé with around three thousand members and guests . In addition, a smaller formation, the band'Aiyê, also performs on stage all year round abroad.

history

Ilê Aiyê was founded in 1974 by the two musicians Antônio Carlos dos Santos, called Vovô, and Apolônia in the districts of Curuzu and Liberdade, which are considered the largest contiguous settlement area in America exclusively inhabited by people of African descent, and made explicit reference to African heritage . The Bloco (block) combined this with political demands for equal rights for the black population. With the decision not to accept white members, Ilê Aiyê sparked a discussion about "black racism" in Brazil and met with strong opposition from the white population. In addition, the association was referred to by the conservative press as "Bloco racista" or "Bloco do racismo". At that time, the Afoxé group Filhos de Gandhy was the only music group that played Afro-Brazilian music.

The influence that Ilê Aiyê exerted on the musical life of Bahia, however, was already very great after a few years of existence: The first participation in the carnival in 1975 triggered a wave of Afro-Brazilian blocos. Around 1980 the Carnival of Salvador was considered completely "Africanized".

As a cultural association, Ilê Aiyê is also active beyond music. In addition to its own Escola de Música e Percussão Banda Eré for teaching choir singing and drums for children and young people, it also offers tailoring and drum making workshops as well as professional qualification courses, for example as an electrician or in the use of PCs. The Bloco was supported early on by Gilberto Gil , who composed a song Ilê Aiyê . The story of Ilê Aiyê was described by the writer Antônio Risério in the book Carnaval Ijexá , many other artists of Brazilian music such as Margareth Menezes or Daniela Mercury dedicated songs to them.

Discography

Web links