CarlosCaciqueVergaradeRamos

The title of this memory is a play on words with the names of visual artist Carlos Vergara and the carnival group Cacique de Ramos. In the early 1970s, the two became one and the same, when Vergara began a series of photos taken during Cacique's parades on Avenida Presidente Vargas. The merging of these two worlds produced some of the most important works featuring images of the city's popular festival.

Image description: This is a photograph of a public event. In the foreground, a large building is reflected in a puddle of water. In the background, several people are dancing in formation. Most of them are dressed in traditional clothing, including short shorts and sleeveless tops. The predominant colors are shades of beige and brown, with some white details.

The relationship between visual arts and carnival has some emblematic moments in Rio de Janeiro. Undoubtedly one of them was the presence of Hélio Oiticica at the Escola de Samba Estação Primeira de Mangueira back in the 1960s. A friend of Vergara's, Oiticica produced some of his most important works through this contact with the group – such as the capes, tents, and banners he named Parangolés. At the beginning of the following decade, the eye of the gaúcho artist who had been an assistant to Iberê Camargo and one of the names of the new generation emerging in that period captured scenes that became iconic all over the world.

Vergara's relationship with Cacique de Ramos began when the artist was looking for a less official, more popular side of Rio's carnival. Instead of going to the Samba Schools parade in the first group, he found in the Ramos street group – famous for its clubhouse on Uranos street and for having been the seat of a true revolution in Rio's samba – the spontaneity of a collective of thousands of people around the carnival ritual. Dressed up as Native Americans in faux leather with a North American look, yet carrying in its name the traditions of African-based religions (the caciques, or chieftains, as umbanda entities), the group, founded in the late 1960s, gradually became famous throughout the city.

Image description: This is a black-and-white photograph of three adult men, bare-chested, with the word "PODER" written across their chests. They are in an urban setting, with tall buildings in the background. The figure on the left has short afro hair and is holding the hand of the man in the center, who also has short afro hair. The man on the right is wearing a hat and has longer afro hair. There are other people and vehicles in the background, including a white car.

Vergara's relationship with the Cacique lasted for years, resulting in a series of photos (titled Carnaval 1972-1976) and works that gained notoriety, even being exhibited at the 1980 Venice Biennale. To this day, the artist is invited by leading institutions around the world to exhibit his works – as is the case with the 1972 photo whose informal title is Poder. Featuring three Black men looking directly at the camera, this image has traveled to several countries and has become increasingly relevant in the current political and anti-racist context of Brazilian and global visual arts.