Bárbara Wagner and Benjamin de Burca: Swinguerra

Kunsthall Stavanger is proud to present an immersive exhibition of Swinguerra, by filmmakers Bárbara Wagner and Benjamin de Burca. For this film, Wagner and de Burca delve into expressions of popular culture in contemporary Brazil and highlight their complex relationship to race, gender, identity, conflict, and desire. The exhibition is presented as a large-scale two-channel video installation that spans across several of the galleries, and is designed to give the audience a participatory role.

With an affirmation of self-expression through popular music and dance, Swinguerra provides a deep and empathic view of contemporary Brazilian culture, at a moment of significant political and social tension. The film, which was originally commissioned for the Brazilian Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale, takes its title from 'swingueira', a popular dance movement in the Northeast of Brazil, but with a slight spelling twist that makes the word end in 'guerra', meaning war. The film includes several integrated and rival dance groups: Cia. Extremo, Grupo La Máfia, Bonde do Passinho, and As do Passinho S.A., performing charged and flawlessly rehearsed routines of 'swingueira', 'brega funk' and 'passinho do maloca', genres of popular music from the outskirts of the city of Recife, where Swinguerra was filmed.

The predominantly Black bodies on the screen (several of nonbinary gender) are in many ways the focus of contemporary disputes around visibility, entitlement, and self-representation in Brazil. Since Jair Bolsonaro came to power in 2019, his far-right politics have further marginalized members of the LGBTQ+ communities with frequent attacks and murders. In 2020 the country was the deadliest in the world for trans people. The majority of the victims were Black, mostly between the ages of 15 and 29. However, the challenges facing members of the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities are not exclusive to Brazil.

The dance styles in Swinguerra are ways for the dancers to escape everyday challenges and display their inner strength. In the film, we encounter members of the dance crews as they demonstrate their power and individuality, their bodies coming together in choreographies that require great skill, restraint, physical strength, artistry, and a comprehensive knowledge of how to move and exist within society. The style of 'swingueira' originates from samba reggae, which had a particular resonance in Brazil’s Afro-Brazilian social movements in the latter 20th century, and is usually performed by larger dance ensembles. Competing in events throughout the larger region of Recife, groups made up of young adults perform narratives around socio-political themes. These competitions allow for a fluid and complex exploration of gender, race, power, masculinity and conflict, which would have been frowned upon in more mainstream cultural spaces.

The most distinctive elements in Swinguerra are the dancing and choreography, but the quiet moments still resonate. In a close-up of the choreographer and dancer Clara, we see her struggle with her decision to leave the dance group Cia. Extremo and join La Máfia. As viewers we are subjected to her internal reflections and subsequently the reclaiming of her individual power as she steps out of the shadows that appear to have been following her, and claims her rightful place as a powerful player in her new company. During the production of Swinguerra, Wagner and de Burca worked closely with the dance crews. The participants were an integral part of the process, and mindful makers of their own body, story, and image. As a result, the film sits between the format of a documentary and a fictionalization of the dancers' everyday lives.

Swinguerra, as in most of Wagner and de Burca’s work, features the imagery and sound of high-end film productions. The polished finish lures viewers into the more complex and layered experiences of the film. This treatment does not intend to gloss over, but to lift up the elegance, refinement and complexity of a culture that some regard as lacking in such. This fits particularly well in Swinguerra, where the dancers themselves exist in-between the underground cultures growing out of the peripheries of the big city, and mass consumption on social media, where the dancers build online followings as a way to gain recognition for their craft.

Wagner and de Burca commissioned exhibition architect Marcus Vinícius to adapt Kunsthall Stavanger’s exhibition space in a way to give the audience a participatory role, including seating that reflects the dancers’ own formations, and rubber surfaces that recall the outdoor public sports halls and community centres in which the dancers practice. The two video screens, initially seemingly in sync with each other, are in fact at times featuring different shots of the same scene, or different scenes entirely. These variations, while almost unnoticeable, emphasize the nuances, alternating perspectives and multiplexity that are prevalent throughout Swinguerra.