Singer, composer, politician – Gilberto Gil is one of Brazil’s most inspiring icons. On the eve of his performance at Royal Festival Hall tomorrow (Wednesday 21 July), Paul Heritage explains what is it is that makes him so unique.
“When Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced in 2003 that Gilberto Gil had accepted an invitation to join his government, The New York Times commented that it was like making Bob Marley Minister of Culture or putting Bruce Springsteen in charge of the National Endowment Fund. But few countries can boast about having had such a charismatic Minister of Culture. In Gil’s presence a political event became a cultural happening. Gil does not just enable the forces of culture in others, he embodied them in himself through his six years as Brazil’s Minister of Culture. A photograph of Gil in his first year of office, playing guitar and singing next to a seated Kofi Annan on drums gives some idea of where the man can stand when he sings – and the potential power of what he can make with his art. Torquato Neto, one of Gil’s earliest creative partners, once commented that ‘there are many ways to sing and make Brazilian music: Gilberto Gil prefers them all’.”
Below is a selection of quotes taken from throughout Gill’s career.
Gilberto Gil on himself ‘I’m a minister, I’m a musician but above all, I’m a hacker in spirit and desire.’
On diversity ‘We practise diversity as a right to identity and as a means of creating, as a recognition of the radical otherness, as the legitimate presence of that which we do not reach, but of that which makes us know and cultivate our own culture.’
On Brazil’s place on the world stage ‘Brazil can take advantage of its own paradoxes, of its own asymmetric tendencies in order to arrive faster at a central place in a world of shared paradoxes and globalised imbalances.’
On Brazil ‘I travel the world and I notice that the reporters only ask me: “Brazil? Brazil?” And I wonder, “What am I going to tell them?” I have nothing to say. I am Brazil (laughs).’
On finding Brazil’s unique voice ‘What Brazil needs to have is the ability to speak, to have a voice, to have the courage to talk, and that voice has to draw on frequencies that come from various sectors, from various parts of Brazil. Geographically, sociologically, anthropologically, that voice has to come from the various Brazils that are out there, protesting, needing space, needing to speak.’
On the importance of culture ‘Cultivated from Nature by human labour, culture is the domain of human life, produced by the hand of Man from the planet’s limited wealth. Cultivation requires constantly returning to the land to honour the natural matrix of what we do… Culture is freedom, innovation and disruption, but also regulation and tradition, the sediments that constitute who we are in the deep, tectonic movements of what it is to be human.’
On everything ‘O melhor lugar do mundo é aqui e agora.’ / ‘The best place in the world is here and now’ [From Gilberto Gil’s song Aqui e Agora / Here and Now]
Paul Heritage is Artistic Director of People’s Palace Projects (PPP), Festival Consultant for Festival Brazil. PPP is an arts organisation established at Queen Mary, University of London, to advance the practice and understanding of art for social justice. Paul collected the quotes spanning Gilberto Gil’s life, with thanks to Rodrigo Faria.
Gilberto Gil performs at Royal Festival Hall on Wednesday 21 July, 7.30pm.
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