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From humble beginnings as a cultural newsletter celebrating black in culture in one of Rio de Janeiro’s most dangerous favelas AfroReggae have come a long, long way, as their presence at the launch weekend of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad attests.

The newsletter no longer exists but the idea behind it has spawned an NGO with global links. There are numerous bands, theatre groups and a digital radio station; books have been written and films made but their most important work has been in showing Rio’s youth that there are alternatives to its relentless drugs trade.

The last time the group appeared at The Barbican it was under the banner ‘From The Favela to the World’ this time it was ‘Favelisation’ though their latest performance provided the clearest demonstration yet of their global reach.

The show began with 60, mainly local, school children trained in the art of Brazilian percussion. The torment of Rio’s favelas may seem a far cry from life in London but for the past two years AfroReggae has been running projects throughout the UK aimed at engaging young people through art.

This was the chance for everyone involved to celebrate. The mixture of proud parents and over-excited class-mates made for an audience rather different than the Barbican is used to, but all added to the atmosphere.

The crowd never did quite settle down, much to the the delight of the band who soon replaced the locals on stage. Much of the performance was given over to AfroLata - one of 12 sub-groups of the Grupo Cultural AfroReggae - performing with drums constructed from recycled materials.

For those that have seen any of the AfroReggae groups the mix of reggae, soul, hip hop, drumming and dance was familiar and soon had the everyone dancing in their seats . A little Marvyn Gaye and Bob Marley were thrown in and performed against an ever-changing collage of images ranging from shots of Ghandi to pictures taken in the favelas.

Who better to be invited to the opening of the Cultural Olympiad, a project that aims to inspire through culture, than a group who’s own 70 plus projects have undoubtedly saved countless lives in Brazil and beyond.

Links:
The Barbican
AfroReggae