SAMBA SCHOOL ARTIFACTS
MATERIALITIES AND INSTITUTIONALITIES FOR THE CARNIVAL BEING/DOING
Keywords:
samba schools, carnival associations, materiality, institutionalityAbstract
This study analyzes artifacts from samba schools, examining their materialities and institutionalities, as well as the potential of this documentary corpus for the creation, maintenance, appreciation, (re)cognition, and preservation of the identity and practices of carnival associations and parades. The documentation arising from these practices legitimizes the institutions, contributes to the appreciation of these territories or communities, and fosters the persistence of a collectively constructed identity. It aims to understand these rituals and the production of the parades, as well as to investigate their sonic, visual, and performative manifestations. This study also aims to highlight the experience of samba school members through the institutional framework and materiality of the schools’ artifacts. Methodologically, this is an exploratory study conducted through a qualitative approach based on a literature review. It concludes that Samba Schools lack document management (creation, processing, and preservation) for the functioning and understanding of artifacts as elements of support and appreciation, both internally and externally, of carnival practices and their central purpose: the parades.