Manda Brasa: Elisa Maia and Karol Medeiros open the season of the Amazonian cultural project

Manaus (AM) – The first episode of “Manda Brasa”, a series from Coletivo Nupramta (Nucleus of Meditative Practices in Artist Training) which features, in its premiere, singer Elisa Maia and actress and director Karol Medeiros, is on air. The project comprises three new artistic experiments by the group, with the show “Cê Virou Planta”, in partnership with Soufflé de Bodó Company; and the performance “A Vaca”, by Vanessa Bordin.

The project coordinator, Vanja Poty, says that the next releases will take place on the 14th and 28th of January, at 8pm, with interviews from artists such as Andira Angeli, Francis Madson and Rafael César. The first season has three episodes, each forty minutes long, on the website nupramta.art and on the group’s YouTube channel (@nupramta1874).

“In the premiere, the conversations are with singer Elisa Maia and actress Karol Medeiros, artists from Manaus who talk to Victor Kaleb about their experiences as cis women in society, going through their relationships with life, with art, with sexuality and future perspectives, as well as difficulties such as machismo, racism and everyday harassment”,

comments the coordinator.

Vanja Poty explains that Nupramta’s meeting with different artists in “Manda Brasa” aims to foster integrated creative networks that unite artists, researchers, stories and movements necessary for the survival of northern subjectivities.

“From the perspective of mutual learning, carrying out the project is an opportunity for symbolic exchanges in the scenario we envision in the resumption of activities in the cultural sector after the pandemic”, he states. “A second season is scheduled for March.”

Premiere episode

Amazonian singer Elisa Maia is tireless in her movement in music. Since 2011, at Coletivo Difusao, she has managed the festivals “Até o Tucupi” and “Festival Somas”, which focus on black youth, women and the periphery.

Between 2020 and 2023, the artist released new singles, accompanied by music videos “Luas Pra Tantas Faces”, “Sol de Setembro”, “Todo Politics Curativo” and “Sol De Setembro – Buguinha Dub Remix” and “Beleza”, debuting as a producer of her songs and closes a cycle before her new album, with the live session “Dança Sozinha Sessions”.

Elisa Maia is also the artistic director of the debut EP by Amazonian rap duo Lary Go & Strela (2021) and the album Anos Luz (2023) by singer Karen Francis. The singer is one of those selected for the Natura Musical 2021 Announcement and is currently preparing for the release of an album and documentary.

“We exchanged a lot of ideas about the desire that drives me in music, in the arts, but also how over time, I have also been opening myself up to other possibilities of satisfaction and pleasure other than just work”,

says the singer.

Elisa Maia highlights that the conversation also revolves around how she has tried to be attentive to desire and pleasure in everyday life, to what is not in the other’s hands, but also about the necessary movement towards bonding, relationships, and how everything is about supporting desire and also the lack of it.

“Because at the end of the day, we, artists, transform our expression into demand and this demand generates to some extent frustration, because depending on others too, on the public, on the system, on the structure we live in. So, what is left when we put all our ideas of pleasure and satisfaction into work?”

points out the artist.

Karol Medeiros is an actress graduated in Theater from the State University of Amazonas (UEA), cultural producer and director. She won an honorable mention at the 54th Brasília Festival, for her performance in the film “Terra Nova” and was awarded for her performance at the 9th Amazon Theater Festival, with the play “Aykunã ea Árvore da Sabedoria”.

The artist works with academic research that addresses violence against female bodies, focusing on her artistic work environment and cases of feminicide in the state of Amazonas. Recently, she directed the play “Eu Conto”, a production carried out by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

“It was such a nice conversation to exchange, because we realize the value of being able to talk about what is not visible in everyday life, is not present in this cover that we carry, especially when we are talking about desires. It’s a mix of sensations to discover and rediscover yourself and find yourself open to continuing to provoke yourself”,

evaluates Karol Medeiros.

“Enjoying the reflection that the theme proposes is essential to encourage us to continue thinking about the things that hold us back or no longer hold us back, it is important to develop our security, convictions in the face of the violence we suffer, in the face of certain social trends that we take for ourselves , when it is not imposed, but which, deep down, is not part of our essence”, adds the director.

Project

“Manda Brasa” is supported by the Municipal Foundation for Culture, Events and Tourism (Manauscult) through the Thiago de Mello Award.

In the technical sheet, Victor Kaleb signs the script, direction and editing of the series, Vanja Poty is in coordination and production, Thaís Vasconcelos, from Agencinha, as Design, and Lukas Macedo, Túlio Dellacante, Sophia Calandrini, Thayná Liartes and Yas Lobo in the design team interns.

The show “Cê Virou Planta”, with Soufflé de Bodó Company, premieres on January 25th, while the performance “A Vaca”, by Vanessa Bordin, will be launched on February 29th.

Nupramta

The Center for Meditative Practices in Artist Training emerged in 2015, with teachers and graduates of the Theater Course at the State University of Amazonas (UEA).

Nupramta brings the investigation into the training of the scene artist as a central axis. During the pandemic, the group intensified the dialogue between performativity and audiovisual in the works.

*With information from consultancy

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