Dalton Paula recounts, through images and texts, the 30 days he spent in the city of Cachoeira, in the state of Bahia, where he retraced the route known as Rota do Tabaco [Tobacco Route] – which lends its name to the project presented at the #32bienal. Take a look at his research processes:
"Those thirty days lived in the town of Cachoeira, in the Brazilian state of Bahia, enabled me to conclude this route that was yet to be completed. I was able to observe the various relationships that people develop with tobacco"
Civic Parade on June 25th in Bahia (reverence to the struggles for the independence of Brazil)
"In Cachoeira and São Félix, when talking to older people who worked in the cigar factories, as well as benzendeiras, rezadeiras and mães de santo, I had the opportunity to hear stories and experiences with the tobacco herb itself, its symbolic and ritualistic meanings, its cultivation and production.
Access to the Public Archive of São Félix was critical to understanding, through photographs and historical documents, the importance of tobacco as a political and economic activity, as well as symbol of wealth and power of a particular social group – as evidenced in the iconography of the packaging, the family photos and official publications, as well as in the employee records of the Dannemann factory."
Sail boats in the port of São Félix/Bahia - Town's Public Archive
Label of Geraldo Dannemann's cigar boxes
(dir) Factory built by Danneman & Company
(esq) Juanita, on of the 160 brands of Danneman & Company
"While accompanying the ceramic firing process in Coqueiros, Bahia, I met Dona Cadu, a 96 year old ceramics teacher from whom I learned a little more about the origins and ritualistic functions of the pieces in the context of that small community. In the town of Maragogipinho, which houses the largest pottery in Latin America, I talked to several master potters about their pieces and craft – their artistic practice that articulates with the mangrove ecosystem that is prevalent in this region."
Ceramic firing in Coqueiros/BA
Bowls of Maragoapinho/BA
"The visit to the Kaonge and Dendê quilombos allowed me to observe the coexistence of old mills (and their historical reference of the black population as work force) with other forms of black re(existence) based on ancestral knowledge that is lived, transmitted and elaborated again in the daily lives of residents. Finally, I was also able to compare the similarities and differences in the cultivation and production of tobacco here in Brazil and in Cuba, based on my visit to the Dannemann Cigar Factory/Farm".
Dannemann Cigar Factory/Farm
Seed - Seeding
Tobacco seed
