Interview with Diego Bragà about Geografia do Amor
Geografia do Amor is an artwork by Diego Bragà that takes several forms: film, record, and performance. The film (2020) was featured in the Sundance Film Festival and is singled out in Op-Docs do The New York Times. The record (2022) was produced by Chico Neves, a producer of artists such as Elis Regina, Milton Nascimento, and Gilberto Gil. The performance premiered on February 10 this year (having been on show from 10-12) at Polo Cultural Gaivotas, Lisbon. The music is written by Rui Lima and Sérgio Martins, the performance is by Diego Bragà and both musicians, the light design is by Filipe Pureza, the set and painting are by Martîm and the set assistant is Andrea Paz. The different materializations of this project are the product of the inheritance left by his uncle Ricardo Wagner Braga. We talked to Diego Bragà, responsible for the creation of this project’s different aspects.
Rodrigo Fonseca – How does the record Geografia do Amor communicate with the performance Geografia do Amor?
Diego Bragà – Geografia do Amor has to be seen as a great erotic atlas, built from my uncle’s heritage. There are almost a thousand objects, half of them postcards from various countries (more than fifteen). This is the floor of Geografia do Amor. The songs from the record Perfume da Luz and Fogo de Amor are played during the performance. Three more songs have been created for this show, two originals, and one cover. These creations share the same idea or concept: the melodrama, the crying that turns into melodrama. I refer to moments when it is impossible to speak due to uninterrupted crying, moments when speech becomes repetitive and sobby, moments that acquire a musical quality. The idea of this performance is to be a musical show.
RF – How was it to work with Rui Lima and Sérgio Martins? Besides being responsible for the music, they were also performers. How did they influence your creative process?
DB – It was a lovely encounter. Both are musicians with established careers in Portugal in music creation for contemporary dance. It was very interesting, as we come from different generations and different countries. Rui and Sérgio, from the beginning, made a very quick reading of what I wanted. My goal was to make a pagan mass in homage to our dead, our ancestors, not only mine but also theirs and the audiences. A rock and roll imaginary was quickly born! I brought this imagery into a spiritual space, while they, as atheists, brought it into a psychedelic setting! I found this combination delightful. As I said, we come from very different generations. My generation is marked by Lady Gaga and Britney Spears, theirs by rock and Nirvana. This encounter was essential to transform Geografia do Amor into a performance that doesn’t just translate the record’s concept.
RF – They ended up complementing each other.
DB – Yes. There is an interesting particularity in my uncle’s heritage. Ever since I was a child, I have always been a very effeminate and feminine person. I consider myself to be a non-binary person. In my uncle’s heritage, there is a latent cis homoerotic homosexuality. Having cis men next to me helped me to think about this relationship. We reached the image of a sperm concert! For me, this matched the sexuality and erotic ancestry that I associated with my uncle.
RF – How do spirituality, mythology, and magic communicate with your uncle’s archive? You open several esoteric questions during your speech and performance. How did you express these qualities in the choreography and sets?
DB – In my uncle’s inheritance, there is nothing magical. Probably only the moment when he dressed up as a Disney witch for me had that side. Once a month, he would chase me around the house! I wouldn’t say it was something esoteric… I prefer the word spiritual. Regarding the setting, we tried to create a colourful utopia, something that would redeem the childhood vision. I remember the pure look on my uncle’s face when I found out he had AIDS. It was a loving and non-judgmental look.
RF – Do you think that this performance can be seen as a queer manifesto, a non-binary manifesto?
DB – It can. It wasn’t done that way, but clearly, it is. I’m very loyal to what I think and to what the universe tells me. I don’t create with prior political thought. I don’t have a feeling of revolt, but I obviously understand other people’s revolt and I buy it! However, for me, it has always been something natural, it has never been a problem.
RF – Because you were always accepted by your family.
DB – Not by my father, for example. Even today that’s still weird for him, although it’s always been very obvious, ever since I was a child. In my mother’s and uncle’s house we lived with politically different people: military men from the left and the right, communists, priests, prostitutes… There was a natural acceptance. I see this performance as a manifesto when people come up to me at the end crying. It’s a very honest manifesto. I don’t try to make it sad or funny. My only concern was to pay tribute to the audience’s ancestry because I’ve already managed to do that in relation to my own. Through mourning. Geografia do Amor celebrates all the dead.
RF – When you describe this performance as an act that celebrates “our dead queer ancestors”, do you mean those who have died because of their sexuality and their non-binary gender?
DB – Absolutely. The LGBTQI+ community is brutally murdered every day. This show tries to talk about the ancestry of this struggle and the people who died in it for being who they were.
RF – Do you already have upcoming performance dates?
DB – Not yet, but the idea is to do a tour!