Resumen

BRITO, Thaís Fernanda Salves de. From ornament to festivity: using embroidery as narrative, agency and performance in two traditional Brazilian festivals. Etnográfica [online]. 2022, vol.26, n.1, pp.275-298.  Epub 05-Mayo-2022. ISSN 0873-6561.  https://doi.org/10.4000/etnografica.11564.

The culture of embroidery materializes a know-how that has crossed centuries and places, revealing models of domestic work, teaching gender perspectives, moral attributes in the arts of creation and, at certain moments, a political action approach. Embroidery is an ornamentation on textiles from threads that bring volumetry and colour, whose risks are taken from a wide and creative repertoire of techniques and uses that narrate stories, memories and knowledge. As part of this varied repertoire, there is a specific type of embroidery: richelieu. It is created through a sort of fusion between the volumetry of the threads on the textile and the cut-outs made in the fabric, resembling lace. Richelieu embroidery has a long tradition in the expertise transmission as well as in the use of the objects and, for the embroidery culture, it represents elegance, tradition and sophistication. However, a closer look can lead us to other potencies (transcending its ornamental character). The present investigation is based on a comparative study between two traditional festivals in northeastern Brazil in which richelieu embroidery takes a prominent place: the Festa de Sant’Anna (Caicó, RN) and the Festa de Nossa Senhora da Purificação (Santo Amaro, BA). Seemingly innocent, in the context of these festivals these embroideries transcend the notion of souvenirs, ornaments for the household or costume, leading to unpredictable discourses, narratives and political positions.

Palabras clave : richelieu embroidery; festival; politics; Santo Amaro; Caicó.

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