Banda Axé Dudu maintains tradition of anti-racist resistance with Afro-Brazilian percussion in Pará

In the meeting between veteran voices and a percussion also formed by the new generation, the band maintains a history that began on the streets of Belém. In 1987, members of the Center for Studies and Defense of Black People in Pará (Cedenpa) created the Bloco Afro Axé Dudu to occupy the city's carnival with references to the orixás, Afro dance, costumes and music to combat racism.

“This visibility was important to establish anti-racist resistance, singing and emanating joy, with music and a scenic construction, made up of costumes and Afro dance, which saluted the orixás and exalted Afro-Brazilian culture in the Amazon”, he explains.

"What remains from that moment is the combative power and diffusion of black beauty, today with women over 70 years old at the forefront and with the continuity of Axé Dudu's children. Musicality continues as an instrument to combat racism in Pará", says Bruna Suellen, the band's producer.

"Our repertoire was designed especially for the festival and is full of faith in our orixás and the praise of our black Amazonian beauty. The Mosqueiro audience can expect an elaborate, vibrant show with Afro-Brazilian percussive quality", says the producer.

The band is part of a program made up of different musical and cultural expressions produced in Pará. Also among the attractions are Flow Cabano, DJ Nayty Show, Estação Carimbó, Os Quentes da Madrugada, Moqueio Tupinambá and Odé Lomi. The festival will also have rhyme and breaking battles and a tecnobrega competition.

The relationship with the black movement remains in the formation and repertoire. The songs address identity, ancestry, African-based religiosity, black beauty and confronting racism. Afro-Brazilian percussion leads the presentations and establishes the connection between the block's trajectory and the work currently developed by the band.

Over the 28 years in its current format, Axé Dudu has recorded two studio albums and one live album. The group also carried out audiovisual productions and participated in the creation of anti-racist booklets.

"We think it's important that people learn about our history through audiovisual documents. They were made in the form of guerrilla cinema and show a little of the history of the black movement in Pará, which is intertwined with ours, but also leaves room for new ways of experiencing the struggle and combating racism to be created", says Bruna.