From clay to music

resistance and continuity in the expressions of Alto do Moura

Abstract

Alto do Moura, the largest figurative art center in the Americas, is a neighborhood in the city of Caruaru, known mainly for the production of figurative clay art. In addition to clay crafts, there are several other types of expressions, most of them with music, that are performed by the locals – or by other people who go to the place to make such expressions happen –, among them: Reisado, Bacamarte, poesia, pífano and others. One of the aspects of the artistic and cultural expressions carried out in Alto do Moura is their relationship with clay figurative art and the Festas Juninas (June festivals). This article, which aims to discuss how these expressions are changing to continue existing, is an excerpt from a qualitative research, with ethnographic methodological procedures and fieldwork, based on semi-structured interviews, observations, and personal experience. Part of the data was obtained through the work carried out for the “Inventário do Ofício dos Artesãos e Artesãs do Barro do Alto do Moura – Caruaru-PE”. It is possible to notice that, to remain alive, the expressions of Alto do Moura transit between the new (change) and the old (tradition), the art of clay and Festas Juninas.