Art, culture and politics in the Brazilian student movement: a necessary combination

Abstract

This article seeks to analyze some political experiences articulated between art and culture with the performance of organizations linked with the Brazilian student movement. It examines the role that the Popular Culture Center (CPC), a branch of the National Student Union (UNE), played during the troubled period preceding the military coup d’état in the country. It focuses on some specific heated debates carried out by the members of those organizations about the different perspectives of the political role of art. It also examines some efforts of Centre, which attempted to use artistic expression as a way to break up the political isolation that student bodies were submitted because of the military intervention in Brazil. Lastly, it emphasizes the role that culture played in the Brazilian re-democratization process, specifically within the context of the Gaucho Student Movement, following the meeting in Caxias do Sul city named “Cio da Terra”, organized by the Union of Students of Rio Grande do Sul (UEE/RS).