Bloco Brokatado (Glitter Bloc)

This action was organized by Bloco Brokatado, a collective of activists and performers who transformed political protest into a form of public performance. Created during the political crisis surrounding the impeachment of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, the intervention used costumes, music, satire, and hand-painted signs to challenge what many participants regarded as a threat to democratic processes.

Rejecting conventional forms of protest, the collective adopted the language of carnival—Brazil’s most emblematic public celebration—to reclaim the streets as spaces of political participation and collective expression. Through humor, theatricality, and embodied performance, Bloco Brokatado blurred the boundaries between art and activism, demonstrating how festive practices can become powerful tools of resistance.

SOURCE

Photographic documentation of protests in Florianópolis, Brazil, 2016.

Photo: Fabio Salvatti.

Images courtesy of the activist and performance collective Bloco Brokatado.

Referenced in: Another Carnival: Fun and Fire in Brazilian Contemporary Protests, Obieg Magazine, 2017.