‘The proposal is to bring together a Carnival block and the experimental music and noise community that exists in Porto, which is quite strong,’ the artist tells us. ‘The atonal comes from there, without tone; we don't work with typical, traditional instruments; musically, we're trying to find a samba noise place,’ she emphasises, adding that this project “says a lot about her existence in this city”. ‘I was introduced to this universe of noise, of experimentation, of do-it-yourself philosophy, and Carnival is a platform without limitations,’ emphasises the Brazilian artist who has lived in Porto since 2017.

To get the block rolling, free workshops were held at the end of last year to build unconventional instruments, namely electronic and acoustic gambiarras and ceramic instruments, under the guidance of visual artists who explore sound in their creations.

‘In Brazil, gambiarra is a spontaneous way of solving some everyday problem with the materials you have at hand, it's in the sense of improvisation,’ explains Luiza. The electronic gambiarras were built under the guidance of Pierre Pierre, a self-taught sound artist and one of the mentors of this project, who taught how to build electronic instruments without soldering, while artist Inês Tartaruga Água demonstrated how it is possible to achieve sonorities with wind instruments made from PVC pipes and balloons. ‘We made membranophones, which consist of tubes with membranes through which air passes, and which emit a sound almost like a bagpipe or a flute, it varies a bit,’ she says.

The last workshop, ‘Fantasia dos Sonhos’ (Dream Fantasy), took place in December and was led by Nani, with the aim of creating costumes for the fashion show from discarded fabrics and disused clothes. ‘Nani is an artist who researches the yarn used to make traditional rugs; she creates wefts using knitting techniques, but only using her hands, without needles or machines; and all of this seemed to make sense to me because I wanted things to be very handmade and accessible so that anyone who learnt how to do it could easily replicate it at home,’ explains Luiza.

“‘It's the first time I'm doing something like this, I don't have the experience of batucada, but I have some ideas about composition and how things can work,’ he says, admitting that “managing a group of people and walking with them on the street is nerve-wracking”. However, the fact that it's a participatory and collaborative project reassures him: ‘People are waiting for someone to guide them, but everyone can take part in the creative process, contributing with ideas.’

This idea of participation underpins the whole project. That's why Luiza Leitão emphasises that ‘everyone is welcome to take part in the parade, to clown around and have fun’. The gathering is scheduled for 2pm at Túnel, 601 R. de Justino Teixeira, in Campanhã.