Brazil’s New Right-Wing Culture Czar Is a Known Peddler of Extremist Conspiracy Theories

There are many reasons to believe that Dante Mantovani, the new
head of Funarte, Brazil’s government arts agency, won’t exactly be
the most progressive person for the post. After his appointment by
populist leader Jair Bolsonaro, Mantovani now heads up an agency
that was created in 1975 “to promote and encourage the production,
practice, development and diffusion of arts in the country.”

But if his ideas about music, which is his specialty, are any
guide, he won’t be an advocate for progressive culture. Mantovani
has spoken out against rock music, claiming that its physicality
leads to sex, that sex leads to abortions, and abortions are linked
to Satanism, as CNN has reported, based on a video on
Mantovani’s YouTube page. He also has some interesting thoughts
about the C.I.A.’s involvement in dosing hippies with acid at
Woodstock. Mantovani’s critique of rock’n’roll also seems to
surface racist tropes and hysteria about the genre—calling it
”repetitive” music that is “more based on rhythm” and “speaks more
to the body than the soul.”

Things were already bleak well before Mantovani assumed his
role. Observers, speaking to Artnet News after his election,
dubbed Bolsonaro’s ascendancy a “nightmare” for the cultural
sphere; one pointed out that in his “plan of government” document,
the word “culture” appeared only once. In fact, on taking office,
he disbanded the culture ministry as such, folding
it into a new Ministry of Citizenship, which includes social
policy, sports and culture. “It’s a very dark time in Brazil,”
Pedro Mendes, of Brazilian art gallery Mendes Wood DM, told Artnet
News at the time.

So what to make of Mantovani, who appears to literally believe
that John Lennon once sold his soul to Satan? “It’s hard to take it
seriously,” said a Brazilian art dealer recently, speaking off the
record about Mantovani’s appointment. “It doesn’t make any
sense.”

After earning a bachelor’s degree in music, Mantovani, born in
1984, achieved a doctorate in language studies, both from the State
University of Londrina. After studying various musical instruments,
he has made a project of creating Catholic choir groups,
“prioritizing the rescue of the liturgical traditions and Gregorian
chant,” according to his website. He’s taught art history at Dom
Bosco College and was an art teacher at the Paraná State Education
Network, as well as teaching other subjects at other Brazilian
universities.

Right-wing populist president and former army officer Jair
Bolsonaro came into office on January 1. He is an outspoken critic
of same-sex marriage and homosexuality, and supports laws against
abortion. He has gained headlines for opening up the Amazon to
development and industry, resulting in the highest losses in the
forest in a decade, reports the New York Times. He has branded
immigrants from places like the Middle East “the scum of
humanity.”

There may be an upside to all of this, said the Brazilian art
dealer, again speaking anonymously.

“It’s making the cultural community stronger in a way,” said the
dealer. “People are really rallying against this.”

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Peddler of Extremist Conspiracy Theories appeared first on
artnet News.