Last Tuesday of Carnival, the crowd that packed the Sambadrome on Marquês de Sapucaí in Rio de Janeiro witnessed a special moment: art being created before the very eyes of the avenue. Invited by carnival artistic directors Leonardo Bora and Gabriel Haddad, visual artist Mulambö paraded with Unidos de Vila Isabel, painting live a portrait of Heitor dos Prazeres, the great honoree of the samba school in its theme “Macumbembê, samborembá: I dreamed that a samba dancer dreamed of Africa.”
Installed atop an allegorical tripod and adorned with iconic images of the honoree, Mulambö turned his passage down the avenue into a kind of performance. Amid the sway of the structure, the rhythm of the samba, and the vibration of the grandstands, the artist brought to life a canvas dedicated to the master who helped found the aesthetic of Rio de Janeiro samba.
Vila Isabel’s theme delved into Heitor’s trajectory, from a boy raised between the hills and the city to an ogã who learned that “samba came from macumba” and that the street could also be a “terreiro”. The narrative celebrated the influence of Little Africa, of Tia Ciata’s house, and of the gatherings that blended faith, music, and everyday life, a universe the artist would transform into sound, color, and painting. It was within this symbolic territory that Mulambö inscribed his visual tribute.
With roots in Carnival since childhood (his grandmother was part of Acadêmicos do Sossego, a samba school from Niterói founded in the 1960s and dissolved in 2022), Mulambö had previously paraded with Acadêmicos do Grande Rio in the theme “Fala, Majeté! Sete chaves de Exu” (2022), also signed by Bora and Haddad. This time, the experience took on a new dimension: beyond parading, he also created.
To meet the challenge, the artist prepared a pencil sketch before climbing onto the tripod. The rest was improvisation and surrender. “The sketch was just a starting point. I painted freely, letting emotion and rhythm guide me,” Mulambö explained after the parade. Between brushstrokes, he also sang and danced samba, fully integrating himself into the procession that carried Vila Isabel to third place in Rio’s Carnival this year.
The school returns to Sapucaí this Saturday, 21st February, for the Carnival 2026 champions parade.
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