Tropicalia, Underground & Counterculture

Tropicalia, Movimento Tropicalista or Tropicalismo was an aesthetic revolutionary & multi cultural movement, not just musical as many people believe. It mingled all influences of that time, which resulted in the Tropicália shows and performances. It is clear the presence of Bossa Nova (specially João Gilberto), of the Jovem Guarda, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, plus the experiments at the Universidade Federal de Música da Bahia, captained by Koellreutter, which was the rector of the institution, with the aid of the visionary & inventive Walter Smetak. Also the student's movement in France (at May 1968), the Brazililian historical Passeata dos Cem Mil (at June 26, 1968), the Brazilian military dictatorship, the beginning of the Hippie Movement, the counterculture, the Beatnik movement, the Brazilian Semana de Arte Moderna de 1922, the Cinema Novo, the Cinema Marginal, the experimental European Cinema, the melodramatic songs of Vicente Celestino, the Kitsch, the Industrial Revolution, the play "O Rei da Vela", the Concrete Poetry, the experimental graphic arts, Andy Wharol’s pop art, Herbert Marcuse, the PanAmérica book, by José Agrippino and much more...

The starting point of Tropicalia was in 1968, with a record of Caetano Veloso (with the opening track "Tropicália"), followed by Gilberto Gil's 2nd album, consolidating with the manifest album "Tropicália ou Panis et Circensis". “Araçá Azul”, de Caetano Veloso, from 1972, is considered by many as the revival and grand Finale of the Tropicalismo. The Tropicália was the gateway to the Brazilian Underground and Counterculture.

Some artists (from various fields) that represent the Tropicália and the Brazilian Counterculture are: Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Tom Zé, Os Mutantes, Rogério Duprat, Gal Costa, Rogério Duarte, Torquato Neto, José Carlos Capinan, Hélio Oiticica, Jards Macalé, Glauber Rocha, José Celso Martinez Correa, José Agrippino Paula, Damiano Cozzela, Julio Medaglia, Waly Solomon, Luciano Figueiredo, Oscar Ramos, Rogerio Sganzerla, Helena Ines, Julio Bressane, Ivan Cardoso, Lygia Clark, Luiz Carlos Maciel, Ernesto Bono, Joel Macedo, Jorge Mautner, Chacal etc.