Kite

The feeling of letting go of a kite, looking up at the sky and watching it fly with its colors and elegance is priceless! It's imagining an extension of your own body flying over rooftops, TV antennas, and power lines. It's mastering space and controlling the wind. But it's also devising war strategies, applying concepts of physics, and escaping the traps of your 'opponents.' It's keeping your kite from being cut down so that you can then cut down the other one, catching it in the air by its tail and bringing it down to the ground, winning the battle.

In Rio de Janeiro, flying kites is an almost professional activity – just as hot-air balloons used to be before they were banned. Nowadays, it's more commonly practiced in the suburban neighborhoods and communities, and it has even become law.

Image description: The image is a photograph of a group of people on a rooftop, with several buildings in the background. On the left side, there is a light blue building with a rounded structure on top. In front, six individuals are standing, some holding objects that appear to be kites. On the left, a man in a blue T-shirt is looking upward. In the center, two men are focused on their activities. On the right, three men are also engaged with their kites. In the background, there are cable cars suspended above the rooftop. The sky is partly cloudy, with power lines crossing the space.

In October 2019, Law 8562/19 regulated “pipódromos" as public spaces for kite flying, whether for recreational purposes or festivals, throughout Rio de Janeiro.

Invented by the Chinese more than three thousand years ago, kites have played an important role in world history. Back then, they were used as a military signaling device, taking advantage of their many possible shapes and colors. Benjamin Franklin used a kite attached to a metal wire to develop the theory that supported the invention of the lightning rod. Santos Dumont drew inspiration from it to build his 14 Bis.

Kites were brought to Rio de Janeiro by Portuguese colonizers in the 16th century. Along with bells, they served as signals of life in the colony, warning and celebrating. On Good Friday, the Portuguese traditionally held kite festivals. Over time, the pastime took hold in the regions that remained in the waiting line for modernization.

The neighborhoods of the North Zone and the favelas of the South Zone had their skies filled with the most varied shapes of these artificial birds. The advance of the pastime made kites acquire an importance similar to that of balloons.

Pipe (kite) makers and hot-air balloon makers used to gather in guilds and monopolized the many high, open, and still undeveloped areas of the West Zone. On the beaches, the ‘papagaio’ (parrot) was invented: industrialized kites, made of various materials, shaped like the bird. But since they lacked the flexibility of the handmade ones, they gradually lost ground.

Image description: This is a black-and-white photograph of an urban scene. On the left side, we see an apartment building with many floors and windows. In the foreground, there are two children playing with kites. The child closest to the camera is holding the kite, while the other one is running after it. In the background, there is a hill covered in vegetation. The image was taken in 1974, as noted in the site caption.

In the past, flying a kite involved a whole marathon, which began with buying the various items: thin colored paper, "linha 10" (the most common, for being strong and light) and bamboo. The glue was made with whatever was on hand in the kitchen: leftover wet rice or wheat flour dissolved in water.

Image description: The image is a black-and-white engraving. It shows a drawing of two kites flying over a beach. On the left is a kite with long paper tails. On the right is another kite with a shorter tail. Below them, on the beach, are two men holding the kites' strings. In the background, there is a spool of line and a reel. On the right, there is a line cylinder. In the upper right corner, it reads "Modelo." At the bottom right, it reads "Varetas Papel Fino." In the lower right corner, it reads "Lata de Linha." In the lower left corner, it reads "Carretel." In the upper left corner, it reads "Pipa Papagaio Pandorga." In the upper right corner, it reads "Alcides." In the lower right corner, it reads "30-7-20."

It was common among kite flyers to use the dangerous cerol (banned), a mixture of ground glass and glue applied to the line to make it easier to cut the kites of rivals. One way of grinding the glass was to place it on the streetcar track. Once ground, it was collected with a piece of cardboard and mixed with wood glue. Next, the cerol was applied to the line, which was stretched between two posts. Once dry, the line was carefully wound onto a can, taking great care not to cut one's hand. Another technique for 'cutting' 'enemy' kites was to attach a half-cut razor blade to the tail (using a piece of a matchstick).

Just like the use of cerol (banned in the state since the 1990s), the art of making kites by hand has also been disappearing. Nowadays, stores already sell kites ready to fly, including line, bridle, and tail.