The Art of Sculpting ‘Carrancas’: A Symbol of Tradition and Belief in Petrolina, Brazil

The artisan Sandro sculpts a small “carranca”, on August 14, 2023, in the Maestro Quincas craft workshop, in Petrolina, Pernambuco (Brazil). EFE/ Andre Coelho

Photo: EFE – Andrés Coelho

The sculptures with surreal and mythological beings that invade the streets of the city of Petrolina arise from religious syncretism and popular belief that structure the arid lands of northeastern Brazil.

The devilish “carrancas” have already been compared with the images that the Viking ships carried. In Brazil, they are a symbol of the riverside people and became art when they left the bows of the boats and migrated to the entrance of the houses.

At Petrolina’s Maestro Quincas craft workshop, in the state of Pernambuco, the sound of chisels can be heard from the door.

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The place receives that name in homage to Joaquim Correia Lima, known as “Maestro Quincas” and considered the first artisan of Petrolina, a city of 350,000 inhabitants bathed by the San Francisco River, one of the most important in the country with its almost 3,000 kilometers of length.

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Inside it houses an exhibition of works by local artists and a space dedicated exclusively to the “carrancas” and their teachers.

from parents to children

Lesandro Evangelista de Oliveira, known as “master Sandro”, holds a small bare wooden sculpture in his hands. It is the first “carranca” carved by his son a few minutes ago.

With pride, he remembers the moment more than three decades ago when his father, also “Master Louro”, taught him the art of creating these fanciful monsters with aggressive eyes and sharp fangs.

“I am very happy with his first job. When his day comes, he will stay in my place and he will also be proud to say that he learned the trade with me”, he affirmed.

Other artisans share space with Evangelista de Oliveira in this venue where tradition is breathed. The manufacture of the “carrancas” is mixed with that of other figures.

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Under the influence of his wife, Carina Lacerda, also an artisan, production engineer Fredson Adjar Lima Pereira, 43, began sculpting his first works in 2014.

In the last decade he has wanted to give it a personal touch with the creation of sacred images and “carrancas” with wings.

“The carrancas of San Francisco have been revived and continue to generate income for the riverside population, knowledge and culture,” he defends to EFE.

A few meters away, the teacher “Biu dos Anjos” uses a chainsaw to cut trunks of “umburana de cambão”, a typical tree of the region, with an irregular crown, thorns and that reaches between six and nine meters in height.

And from the boats to the houses

Its wood is the most used to carve demons.

Teacher Biu, whose given name is Gabriel Pereira Filho, has been in the profession for 43 of his 64 years.

He relates that the dams built in the course of the San Francisco River put an end to the great fluvial navigations and, therefore, to the “carrancas” in the prow of the ships.

Luckily, the creatures found a second life in the form of traditional art in Petrolina, considered the capital of the “Sertão”, the arid region of northeastern Brazil, and known as the “Crossroads of Progress” as it is the largest agro-industrial hub in Pernambuco.

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“Each artist has an inspiration, his personal line, his mark. I have recycled myself and bring a bit of the Baroque to my works, but the ‘carrancas’ will always be the traditional art of the cities through which the ‘Old Chico’ passes, as the San Francisco River is known, says the teacher Biu.

2023-08-27 18:30:56
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