I’ve just finished reading a collection of essays by Paul Heritage called “Intense Dreams: Reflections on Brazilian Culture and Performance.” Paul is the Artistic Director of People’s Palace Projects, which describes itself on its website as “an arts organisation established at Queen Mary, University of London to advance the practice and understanding of art for social justice.” A Professor of Drama, Paul has done amazing work both in Brazil and in the UK, ranging from the establishment of theatre programs inside some of Brazil’s most notorious prisons to bringing Brazilian artists such as AfroReggae and Grupo Galpão to London. (Incidentally, AfroReggae leader Anderson Sá was the keynote speaker for the annual ILASSA Conference here at the University of Texas a few years ago, which coincided with an on-campus screening of the award-winning and moving documentary ”Favela Rising.”)

The three essays focus on popular culture in Brazil, which Heritage shows to be far more layered and extensive than the term “popular culture” often denotes in North America and Europe. He details the groundbreaking and controversial “Points of Culture Program,” (“Pontos de Cultura”), which former Brazilian Minister of Culture (and 2009-2010 ArtesAméricas artist) Gilberto Gil implemented in 2003. Heritage also discusses present-day manifestations of the tropicália movement, of which Gil is considered to be one of the founders, as well as Heritage’s own work presenting Shakespeare in some of Rio’s most difficult favelas.

With the support of The British Council, Paul moderated a panel entitled “Popular Urban Culture in Brazil” during the recent ISPA Congress in São Paulo. I found the session to be one of the most memorable of the congress, both for the remarkable insight it provided regarding the vast and sophisticated popular culture traditions of Brazil’s cities as well as its eye-opening setting in a beautiful theater at CEU Alvarenga in a marginalized neighborhood on the outskirts of São Paulo. Following the session, one congress delegate remarked that it was amazing how Brazil does not get bogged down in the debate between “art as an instrument of change” vs. “art for art sake,” as we so often do in North American and Europe. Rather, Brazilians make high quality art that frequently makes a real difference in the lives of both the artists and audiences. Period. There is no time to debate or compromise.

ArtesAméricas has long been interested in the role of the arts in the quest for social justice, a belief that is at the heart of our ongoing collaboration with The Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice here at the University of Texas at Austin.

I highly recommend Paul’s work to anyone seeking to learn about Brazil’s innovative policy efforts to support popular culture and the ways in which the arts achieve social change in Brazil. For a list of other publications by Paul and People’s Palace Projects as well as to purchase copies, click here.