"Da Lama Ao Caos" (From Mud to Chaos): A History of the Mangue Movement and "New Music Scene" of Recife

Introduction The mangue movement is one of Brazil's most vital pop culture trends of

the last thirty years. Formed in Recife in the early 1990s as a cultural response to a debilitating socioeconomic situation, mangue reinvigorated activities in pop music and later theater, dance, and the plastic arts. The movement takes as its namesake and point of departure the geography of Recife-specifically, the ubiquitous swamps on top of which the city is built. Providing sustenance for local fishing communities, the manguezais, as they are called, comprise one of the planet's most diverse and fertile ecosystems; for the movement's creators, the manguezais serve as a metaphor for the cultural richness of their native region.