The Afro-Brazilian artist Raimundo Borges Falcão was born in the state of Bahia around 1950. He lives by himself in a humble place on the outskirts of the city of Salvador, the most African of all Brazilian cities. An illiterate man, he works as a day laborer on small farms and properties around the city, leading what would appear to be a distinctly unremarkable life for most of the year.

 

During the annual carnival in Bahia, however, Borges Falcão shines for one brief day. On Mardi Gras day, he wears the fantastically sculpted and bundled costume elements and accessories he has prepared throughout the year for this very purpose. That day he traverses Salvador on home-made roller skates he specifically built from scrap for the occasion. Although he ignores the carefully staged, rehearsed and coordinated blocos which make up the traditional Brazilian carnival, each year his carnival phantasies have their own distinct themes relevant only to himself, yet evidently reflecting aspects of his local culture. One particularly spectacular costume some few years back (1999) honored Yemanjá (see images). Her presence is reflected in every aspect of the eleven sculptures which together make up a visually dramatic display. Every part of every piece of this wearable assemblage is an altar to the deity.

 

The Yemanja assemblage was included in a year-long exhibition (2000-2001) at the American Visionary Art Museum: "Treasures of the Soul - Who is Rich?"

 

Throughout the year, Borges Falcão, the simple man in the one-room hut, collects any discarded materials he comes across and miraculously transforms them into his costume/sculptures - textile fragments, plastic, buttons, mirrors, carpeting, bubble wrap, Christmas ornaments, and, of course, discarded dolls. While it may appear that he might be just another eccentric on the margins of society, his works fit better into a cultural context than he himself might realize. Raimundo Borges Falcão’s art reminds us of the African yard art environments of the Southern United States, and, obviously, of the magic creations by Haitian artists Pierrot Barra and Marie Cassaise who similarly employed all kinds of discarded materials, beyond the dolls they are known for, in their sacred art. What they have in common is their African roots, and a similar cultural landscape for background, which may have included a collective memory of the fact that in Central and Western Africa, rubbish heaps are metaphors for graves - points of contact with the ancestors.