Awareness and Hope through Criolo’s Project Etérea (2019)

Abstract

“Etérea” (2019) is a contemporary media art project conceived by Criolo, a Brazilian rapper; it consists of a song, music video, and a making-of documentary. In conjunction with a group of performers, the rapper pays homage to Brazilian queer culture while bringing awareness and questioning the prejudice against this marginalized group. As Criolo is a well-known Brazilian artist for his politically charged productions, through “Etérea” (2019), the rapper exposes hegemonic colonial ideologies that still damage the queer community as he displays the performers’ capacity to produce knowledge and represent themselves. Employing critical media art analysis supported by Boaventura de Sousa Santos’ theory of knowledge production in the Global South and Eve Tuck’s studies for ethical decolonial research, I critically read “Etérea” (2019) as a Global South project of LGBTQIA+ activism. Although it brings awareness to violence from LGBTQIA+ phobia, this project operates as a political fight against perpetuating colonial hegemonic ideology; when living in Brazil – the country that kills queer people the most – surviving turns into a state of resistance. Consequently, it exposes violence against a marginalized community while the performers emphasize their bodies’ political significance and existence as anti-colonial forms of resistance. Ultimately, the project focuses not on the damage. Instead, it reveals the artists as agents of their beings and producers of art practices that generate representation, love, hope, and a sense of community.