02/27/2011 - 03/06/2011 | Angola Xyami - Notícias de Angola e do Mundo

sábado, março 05, 2011

Guerra em Líbia: Fotografias das frentes em 05 Março 2011 (photo/war/libya)

Libyans adjust the former Royal Libyan flag as it flies above an abandoned and damaged police station during a demonstration against Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi in the city of Tobruk, eastern Libya, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

A Libyan soldier from forces that defected against Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi fires his automatic weapon in the air outside a military base in Benghazi, eastern Libya, Monday, Feb. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

A wrecked car burns in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on February 28, 2011 as world powers ramped up the pressure on Muammar Qaddafi's regime and the United States urged the international community to work together on further steps to end bloodshed in Libya.(PATRICK BAZ/AFP/Getty Images)

A Libyan army tank manned by soldiers opposed to leader Muammar Qaddafi is surrounded by protesters in the city of Zawiyah, 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital Tripoli March 1, 2011. (REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah)

A Libyan anti-government protester with her face painted in the colors of Libya's old national flag takes part in a gathering in the eastern city of Benghazi on February 27, 2011. Libyan protest leaders established a transitional "national council" in cities seized from Muammar Qaddafi, as world leaders called on him to quit and protesters closed in on Tripoli. (PATRICK BAZ/AFP/Getty Images)

Libyan anti-government fighters stand on a mountain near Nalut, western Libya, on March 1, 2011, to keep Qaddafi forces under surveillance. (FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images)

These frames from an amateur video, obtained Thursday Feb. 24, 2011 and released by Libyan opposition groups, purportedly shows gunfire in the middle of street, tracer fire, and people running away between Feb 18-19, 2011 in Benghazi, Libya.(AP Photo via APTN)

Libyan protesters step on a poster of leader Muammar Qaddafi in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on February 28, 2011.(PATRICK BAZ/AFP/Getty Images)

An elderly Libyan man stands in front of a former prison, burnt down during clashes between anti-government protesters and Libyan government forces in the eastern city of Benghazi on February 27, 2011. (GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/Getty Images)

Egyptian workers try to enter Tunisia after fleeing Libya on the Libya-Tunisia border in Ras Ajdir, Tunisia, Tuesday, March 1, 2011. U.N. refugee agency spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said Tuesday "the situation is reaching crisis point" at the Libya-Tunisia border.(AP Photo/Giorgos Moutafis)

An Egyptian man who fled Libya carries his luggage past camels as he arrives on March 1, 2011 at the Echoucha refugee camp, near the Tunisian border town of Ras Jedir. Meanwhile, forces loyal to embattled leader Muammar Qaddafi on Tuesday beefed up their troops on Libya's southern border with Tunisia, days after leaving the area, witnesses said. (JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)

Stranded foreign worker Seuleu Felicite from Cameroon weeps in a shelter on March 1, 2011 in Benghazi, Libya. The housekeeper said that she and her brothers, also laborers, were robbed of all their savings and passports during attacks on foreign workers during the uprising a week ago. Thousands of foreign laborers have been stuck in Benghazi without a way out of the country. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Egyptian refugees wait for food after crossing the Libya-Tunisia border in Ras Ajdir, Tunisia, Wednesday, March 2, 2011.(AP Photo/Giorgos Moutafis)

A Bangladeshi worker who has been trying to leave Libya for over six days, walks near the water as he waits at the port in the eastern city of Benghazi, Libya, on Tuesday, March 1, 2011. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

An Egyptian man climbs through a window into a bus to take him and others further inland, outside a refugee camp set up by the Tunisian army, at the Tunisia-Libya border, in Ras Ajdir, Tunisia, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011. The camp, which houses about 5,000 people, was built after shelters at the border couldn't handle the large numbers coming through. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Hungry men reach for food being thrown to them while waiting to enter Tunisia after fleeing Libya on March 1, 2011 in Ras Jdir, Tunisia.(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

A man tries to climb over a wall to escape the crowd as thousands of people try and cross from Libya into Tunisia at the Ras Jedir border crossing near Ben Guerdane on March 2, 2011. (JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)

An Algerian national holds carries his luggage as he waits to board an Algerian ferry (not pictured) with hundreds of people fleeing Libya on February 28, 2011 in the eastern Libyan port of Benghazi. (GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/Getty Images)

People walk through the burnt-out remains of a building on the Al-Katiba military base that fell to anti-Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi protesters last week, in the eastern city of Benghazi, Libya, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

A Libyan protester shows a picture found in the ransacked headquarters of the judiciary police in Benghazi on February 25, 2011. Euphoria in Libya's second city Benghazi gave way to growing concern that it remains vulnerable to a counter-attack by Muammar Qaddafi's forces.(PATRICK BAZ/AFP/Getty Images)

A hangman's gallows sits idle at the Benghazi Central Prison on March 1, 2011 on the outskirts of Benghazi, Libya. Inmates broke free of the prison during the uprising a week ago in the city. (John Moore/Getty Images)

A man walks through the burnt main prison of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's forces in Benghazi February 28, 2011.(REUTERS/Suhaib Salem)

People burn pictures of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi inside the main prison of Qaddafi's forces in Benghazi on February 28, 2011.(REUTERS/Suhaib Salem)

A Libyan rebel walks in the damaged and vandalized former bedroom that was used by Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi and his family at the terminal of the airport in Benghazi, in eastern Libya, Monday, Feb. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

A Libyan man looks at the destroyed and burned house of Libyan Leader Muammar Qaddafi inside Al-Katiba military base, in Benghazi, Libya, on Sunday Feb. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A Libyan man climbs a ladder to exit the extensive underground tunnels running under the summer residence of Libya's leader Muammar Qaddafi at Cyrene near Al Bayda in this picture taken February 27, 2011. (REUTERS/Julien Muguet)

A Libyan man shows a door in extensive underground tunnels running under Muammar Qaddafi's summer residence at Cyrene, on February 27, 2011. (REUTERS/Julien Muguet)

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is seen in silhouette while delivering her speech during the opening of the 16th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council focusing on deadly repression in Libya on February 28, 2011 in Geneva.(FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)

U.S. amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge sails through the Suez canal in Ismailia , Egypt, Wednesday, March 2, 2011. Egyptian officials say two U.S. warships have entered the Suez Canal on their way to the Mediterranean, moving closer to the Libyan coast after orders from Defense Secretary Robert Gates. (AP Photo)

Thousands of Libyans gather for the Muslim Friday prayers outside the courthouse in the eastern city of Benghazi on February 25, 2011. Perhaps 8,000 people gathered for the midday prayers with a local imam, who delivered his sermon alongside the coffins of three men killed in the violent uprising that routed Muammar Qaddafi loyalists from Benghazi. The sign in back reads, in English, "Libya, All for one, One for all". (GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/Getty Images)

A Libyan opposition army soldier covers his head with a flag outside an army barracks in Benghazi on March 1, 2011.(MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images)

The X-ray scan of a wounded anti-regime demonstrator shows a bullet lodged in his brain while he is nursed at the intensive care unit at a hospital in the eastern city of Tobruk on February 25, 2011. (MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images)

A young Libyan boy holds a toy gun while touring a destroyed army barracks with his father and siblings in Benghazi February 28, 2011.(MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images)

An armed resident gestures a victory sign in the main square in Zawiya, 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of Tripoli, in Libya on Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

A Libyan militia member from the forces against Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi stands guard over suspected mercenaries from Chad, at left, after detaining them at a roadblock near Marj in eastern Libya, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

A Libyan youth who has joined the forces against Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi helps organize ammunition at a military base in Benghazi, eastern Libya, Tuesday, March 1 , 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

Libyan rebels prepare to battle in Ajdabiya on March 2, 2011 as Pro Muammar Qaddafi soldiers and mercenaries armed with tanks and heavy artillery stormed the nearby city of Brega, 200 kilometers (125 miles) southwest of the main eastern city Benghazi, sparking heavy clashes, residents said. (MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images)

Libyan rebels prepare to battle in Ajdabiya on March 2, 2011. (MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images)

New Libyan rebel recruits stand in formation during a training session after signing up with the forces against Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi at a training base in Benghazi, eastern Libya, Tuesday, March 1 , 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

A Libyan man surveys a weapons cache inside an army base in the eastern town of Ajdabiya, Libya, on Tuesday March 1, 2011.(AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

Libyan rebels celebrate reports that the Qaddafi counterattack had failed, while preparing to battle in Ajdabiya on March 2, 2011.(MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images)

Libyan Leader Muammar Qaddafi smells flowers given to him by a supporter as he drives away in an electric golf cart after speaking in Tripoli, Libya, Wednesday, March 2, 2011. Qaddafi spoke to supporters and the media at an event to celebrate the 34th anniversary of the declaration of transferring the "Power to the masses," and announcing the establishment of the "Republic of the Masses".(AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Carnaval do Rio 2011: Momentos de festa e erotismo popular

quinta-feira, março 03, 2011

Republic of Angola: Culture & Arts

Culture & Arts of Angola

The sculpture known as Thinker is one of the most beautiful pieces of the Chokwe origin and represents all Angolans by symbolizing its national culture. The statue is seen bending down with both legs crossed and its hands placed on its head, which symbolizes the human thought. The Thinker is a charming piece that really leaves the audience thinking. The piece is also represented as the protector of the village of Chokwe and puts everybody in good-spirit. The statue can be seen as a man or a woman but however seen, it represent a strong sense of wisdom and knowledge and is seen with great respect. The Thinker is one of the oldest and well-known artifacts in Angola.

The cultural origins of Angola are tied to the traditions of the central Bantu peoples and the ancient kingdom of Kongo. Located on the southwestern coast of Africa, Angola became a key colony in the growing Portuguese empire after 1500, but for most of the years of its domination Portugal exerted little cultural influence, content to control the slave trade from forts along the coast. Only after the mid-19th century did Portugal seek control of the entire territory, thus spawning a resistance that inspired much art and literature. Angola's struggle for independence was long and violent, and life in the independent nation has also been marred by intense civil war. Such disorder has obstructed the development of Bantu customs and also destroyed the more Portuguese traditions of the coastal cities.

The largest ethnolinguistic groups in Angola have distinct cultural profiles as well as different political loyalties. Most numerous are the Ovimbundu , who are located in the central and southern areas and speak Umbundu . The Mbundu are concentrated in the capital, Luanda, and in the central and northern areas and speak Kimbundu .

The Bakongo speak variants of the Kikongo language and also live in the north, spanning the borders with Congo and the Congo Republic. Other important groups include the Lunda, Chokwe, and Nganguela peoples, whose settlements are in the east. A small but important minority of mesticos (Portuguese-Africans) live in larger cities, especially Luanda. Before 1975, Angola had one of the largest white minorities in Africa, many of whom had never seen Portugal, but most left at the threat of independence. Portuguese is the country's official language, and the majority of Angolans are Roman Catholics. There are also smaller numbers of Protestants and people who practice traditional religions exclusively, though many Angolans combine some traditional beliefs with their Christianity.
The traditional arts of Angola have played an important part in cultural rituals marking such passages as birth or death, childhood to adulthood, and the harvest and hunting seasons. In producing masks and other items from bronze, ivory, wood, malachite, or ceramics, each ethnolinguistic group has distinct styles. For example, the ritual masks created by the Lunda-Chokwe represent such figures from their mythology as Princess Lweji and Prince Tschibinda-Ilunga.

The use of these ceremonial masks is always accompanied with music and storytelling, both of which have developed in important ways. Angolans' literary roots in the oral tradition were overlaid during the 19th century with the writings of Portuguese-educated Portuguese-Africans in the cities.

Literature helped to focus anticolonial resistance and played an important role in the independence struggle.Angola's most famous poet, Antonio Agostinho Neto, was the leader of an important political movement. His works centered around themes of freedom and have been translated into many languages. Post-independence literature, however, has been limited by censorship and ongoing political strife.

Many buildings in Angola record the cultural contributions of the Portuguese. Some of the earliest landmarks are churches in the far north that served as bases for missionaries to the Kongo kingdom. One fine example of many is the Church of Se in the city of Mbanza Kongo.

The later construction of many coastal forts corresponds to the area's growing slave trade. Fort Sao Miguel in Luanda, built at the turn of the 17th century, is the most famous of these. This massive fort was for many years a self-contained town protected by thick walls encrusted with cannons. The fort served as slave depot, administrative center, and residence for the Portuguese community. The Cathedral of Luanda, completed in 1628, is another impressive monument in the capital. Virtually every coastal city has a set of historic buildings that are broadly similar. The Church of Sao Tiago in the town of Namibe, for example, was built during the 19th century in a style very reminiscent of the 16th-century churches in more northern towns.

** Mask, Chokwe; D.R.C. Congo/Angola
Pwo signifies womanhood and an elder ancestral female associated with fertility.