Dialogues with the Carnivalesque

The term Carnivalesque refers to a cultural and artistic realm that, at its core, challenges and subverts established norms. Steeped in satire and the notion of a world where regular hierarchies are inverted, this concept goes beyond mere festivity or performance, emerging as a powerful language of resistance, innovation, and social critique. This article explores how artists such as Ayrson Heráclito, Kiluanji Kia Henda, Filipe Branquinho, and Alex da Silva engage with this Carnivalesque ethos in their creations, presenting dialogues of decolonial resistance and reflecting on Carnival’s role as a space for subversion and celebration. To understand this dynamic, it is crucial to examine the complexity of Carnival in its global context, which sways between affirming cultural identities and its utilization for political or tourist purposes.

[...]

In parallel and still steeped in the Carnival spirit, we find Mozambican Filipe Branquinho’s works, which resonate with the ethos of the Carnivalesque. In his series Lipiko (2018–22), Branquinho employs social satire and draws inspiration from a bestiary rooted in the Carnival imagination to criticize the greed of the elites, ridiculing their ostentation. He calls out corruption by invoking laughter that infects the body and neutralizes such rapacity. Inspired by the 2013–14 Mozambique scandal, where massive secret loans—allegedly intended for purchasing fishing boats for the state company EMATUM—were diverted for military projects, Branquinho crafts narratives that transcend mere representation. The use of Mapiko masks in his Lipiko concept turns them into symbols reflecting Mozambican urban realities.45 These masks become artistic subversion tools, commenting on power, surveillance, and societal vulnerability within the dualities of Mozambican society. While the traditional use of the masks by the Makonde people bears a spiritual nature, Branquinho reinterprets them as emblems of contemporary Mozambique. His art, rich in symbolism, illuminates the sociopolitical landscape of Mozambique, offering a satirical take on greed and resilience in the face of adversity. Henri Bergson analyzed laughter in its social dimension as an antidote to the mechanization of daily life, a phenomenon that can be linked to Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of habitus. 46 This “habitus,” which becomes naturalized and solidified, is ridiculed in these works: it symbolizes power that has crystallized into a mask, turning its wearer into a kind of mummy. The ruling class, trapped by the habitus, often remains oblivious to reality. Laughter, like a tremor, shakes this class and dissolves the mask that keeps them detached from the earth, bringing them into a state of imbalance.

[...]