koštana banović

Containing the sacred: São Roque
(4-channel projection, loop, 2015)

The believers take the pilgrimage to the forest holy to São Roque, a miraculous water source in Bahia, Brazil. On the way, they pick banana leaves. At the foot of the mountain, they collect water drops with the vein of the leaf and contain it with plastic bottles. At home, this water protects them from evil.

The believers take the pilgrimage to the forest holy to São Roque, a miraculous water source in Bahia, Brazil. On the way, they pick banana leaves. At the foot of the mountain, they collect water drops with the vein of the leaf and contain it with plastic bottles. At home, this water protects them from evil.

The Milagre São Roque is a rock formation through which water runs. Both in the rainy and dry season, water seeps out of the steep wall in the forest. The local people say this miraculous case was discovered together with an image of Saint Roch in a small nearby cave.

On the last Sunday of August there is a pilgrimage and celebration at the foot of the rock. Besides the local people, many houses of Candomble (Afro-Brazillian religion) take part and perform rituals in the surrounding groves where the initiates incorporate their caboclos (forest spirits).

 
(excerpt 1 minute)