Carnaval is a European Tradition

While in university in 2022 I began researching the origins of Carnaval and was surprised to find out that it was originally a pagan tradition appropriated by the Catholic church. As it developed through a Euro-centric lens, it became a vehicle commonly used to ridicule minorities and non-European populations using common racist tropes. But in Brazil, something marvellous happened: Carnaval became a joyful form of anti-colonial, anti-slavery, and survival expression. Carnaval is a reclaiming of freedom, reclaiming of the body, rewriting history, occupying public spaces, and protest. Although I am not expert in Carnaval, I made a film that was a meditation and visual representation of the discoveries I came across when I was negotiating Carnaval as a traditional European tradition being flipped into a anti-colonial festival.