CANDOMBE

In the 40’s, Carlos Paez Vilaró moved by the "candombe"(native music and dance) and by the "comparsas" (groups of black people dancing at the drums rythm) decided to live in the "Mediomundo" tenement housing, an old large place mostly inhabited by negroes families.
Climbing an old broken down staircase one reached a room called "Yacumenza". This was the real home of the "candombe".
All the drums of the "comparsas" rested there waiting to be woken up in carnival.
The uruguayan negro generously opened him his arms and life, kindly offering the richness of its folklore so that Carlos Páez Vilaró could express it with the eyes of an artist.
He started designing clothes for the "lubolos" (parties of the lively native dances), decorating their faces, drums and banners.
Then he composed "candombes" which began and finish their echoes n carnival.
Finally he painted the negroes’ way of life in all its forms. Lullabies, negroes masses, weddings, callings, "comparsas" (living dances and music ), popular dances, funerals or Christmas themes were all shown in his works.
When the themes based on the "candombe" was run out, he was tempted to leave that place and investigate its roots. This obliged him to cross frontiers to African countries.
His passion was finally enriched in the black continent by its jungles and rivers, by its tribes and villages, by its animals and markets. All helped to inspire him.
Many of his experiences are found in various books on the subject, such as: "Candombe"; "Bahía"; "Candango"; " "Affiches" (Graffities); "La Casa del Negro" (The Negro’s Home);
"Mediomundo, un mundo de recuerdos" (Middleworld, a world of memmories) and "Cantos de Comparsa" (Living native music and dances), where he gathered anecdotes, thoughts, living experiences and comments showing his daily walk through life. These are living historical documents of which Uruguay is very proud of.
Since fifty years ago, Carlos Páez Vilaró, with his drum on his shoulder goes to Montevideo on the 1 st. Fridays of February to join the "Morenada" comparsa taking part in the drums rythms.