Resist, celebrate: Tico Tico Serra Copo, the direct action and appropriation of space in the contemporary carnival of Belo Horizonte

Abstract

The present article aims to analyze certain aspects regarding the return over recent years, of street carnival to Belo Horizonte, by interpreting the political messages immersed in the performances of one of the city’s contemporary carnival blocks. For this, the author has undertaken an analysis of their celebrative intervention within the city’s urban spaces, and of their relationship with the public authorities through the political concept of Direct Action. The political meanings revealed by the intersection of their performance and this concept have allowed the translation of this cultural intervention as one permeated by the singular perspective of appropriating the city’s spaces for resistance and transformation.

Keywords:
carnival; direct action; appropriation of urban spaces; urban resistance; right to the city