Cultural Heritage Honor

Arts & Crafts

Requirements

1. What is the importance of knowing your cultural heritage?

   Answer: Knowing one's cultural heritage is important for building personal identity (knowing where one comes from, one's roots), valuing family traditions, maintaining bonds between generations, passing on heritage (language, food, customs, religion) to descendants, and developing a sense of belonging to one's group of origin. — Transgenerational psychology (Anne Schützenberger) shows that secrets and ignorance of one's origins cause trauma in descendants; UNESCO has promoted Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2003, recognizing the importance of preserving traditional cultures — including samba (BR, 2008) and frevo (BR, 2012).

2. Using biblical principles as a basis, list 3 negative traditions and 5 positive traditions found in your culture.

   Answer: Using biblical principles as a basis: 3 NEGATIVE traditions common in Brazilian culture: superstitions (horseshoe, charms, the evil eye); idolatry of popular saints and amulets; ethnic/racial prejudice based on local customs. 5 POSITIVE traditions: hospitality toward guests; meals gathered as a family; respect for elders; prayer before meals; valuing honest work. — The biblical analysis of traditions follows 1 Thessalonians 5:21 ('test everything, hold fast what is good'); Ellen White discusses cultural traditions in 'Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing.' Practices should be evaluated under the Bible: positive if they honor God and one's neighbor, negative if they idolize, are superstitious, or discriminate.

3. List at least 5 dates that are official cultural holidays in your country/state and provide: the date of the holiday, the date it became official, the custom for the day, your family's custom on that day, etc.

   Answer: Five Brazilian holidays: Carnival (movable date — Monday); Tiradentes (Apr 21, official since 1965); Independence Day (Sep 7, 1822); Our Lady of Aparecida (Oct 12, 1980); All Souls' Day (Nov 2). Customs: parade, family barbecue, civic ceremonies. Provide the date, the year it became official, and the national and family custom. — Independence Day (1822) is the oldest holiday; Aparecida (1980) became national through Law 6.802/80 along with the beatification. Tiradentes (1965, military dictatorship) is the most civic-ritual holiday. Adventists focus on Tiradentes and Independence Day (civic) and avoid the religious character of Aparecida and All Souls' Day.

4. Do the following:
   • Detail the usual ways of dressing for everyday life and for 2 occasions on which, in your culture, special attire is used (in terms of tradition, style, composition, or color).
   • Present and explain this special attire by means of a photo or drawing.

   Answer: Everyday Brazilian clothing: t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers (urban casual). Two special occasions: (1) Carnival — colorful costume with feathers, sequins, swimsuits, and adornments; (2) June Festival — square dance with a floral dress (woman) and plaid shirt/straw hat (man). Present a photo or drawing. — Brazil has enormous cultural richness in regional clothing — bumba-meu-boi from Maranhão, cavalo-marinho from Pernambuco, congo-mineiro, and Indigenous peoples with headdresses and body painting. UNESCO recognized Frevo and Capoeira as Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2012 and 2014.

5. How does the family structure work in your culture?

   Answer: In Brazil, the traditional family structure is nuclear (father, mother, children living together) with a strong bond to the extended family (grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins). The maternal figure is central in caregiving. Today there is diversity: single-parent, blended, and same-sex families — all legally recognized since 2011 by the Supreme Court (STF). — The 2022 IBGE Census shows: 60% nuclear families, 16% single-parent (84% headed by women), 4% same-sex. The STF in 2011 recognized same-sex unions as a family entity; in 2013 the CNJ required registry offices to convert them into marriage — important steps in the evolution of Brazilian family law.

6. Explain the current political structure of your country and identify the origin of that system.

   Answer: Brazil is a Presidential Federative Republic (1988 Constitution) with 3 branches (Executive, Legislative, Judiciary) and 26 states + the Federal District. Origin: independence in 1822 (monarchy), Republic in 1889, the current order after redemocratization following the end of the military dictatorship in 1985. Voting is mandatory from ages 18 to 65. — The 1988 Constitution (the 'Citizen Constitution') was a milestone of redemocratization after 21 years of military dictatorship (1964-1985); it was inspired by Montesquieu's separation of powers (1748) and American presidentialism. Voting has been mandatory in Brazil since 1932 (the Electoral Law) — a principle different from the optional voting of many democratic countries.

7. Research and describe the customs, celebrations, and/or ceremonies held in your culture for the following occasions:
   • The birth of a child
   • Coming of age (celebrations of specific ages, rites of passage, etc.)
   • Death and burial

   Answer: Customs, celebrations, and ceremonies in Brazilian culture for each occasion: 1) BIRTH — baby shower (gender reveal party) before the birth, religious presentation/dedication or baptism of the baby, family visits to the newborn with gifts. 2) PASSAGE INTO ADULT LIFE — the 15th birthday party (debutante) for girls, school graduation, military enlistment at age 18 (men), getting a driver's license and a first job as milestones of independence. 3) MARRIAGE — request to the parents, engagement with the exchange of rings, mandatory religious and civil ceremony at the registry office, party with music and a meal. 4) DEATH — a wake of about 24 hours with the family gathered, a religious ceremony, burial or cremation, and a 7th-day service/mass in memory of the deceased. — Adventist baptism is by immersion and exclusive to those who consciously accept Christ (generally 12+ years old), differing from Catholic infant baptism; cremation is a growing practice in Brazil (from 5% in 2010 to 20% in 2024) due to urban space and lower cost. Adventists generally prefer burial.

8. In your culture, what is the engagement and marriage system like? Analyze how the request to the parents, the engagement, the religious ceremony, the celebration, the legality, the cultural symbols used, etc., are carried out.

   Answer: Engagement and marriage system in Brazilian culture: 1) REQUEST TO THE PARENTS — traditionally the suitor asks the bride's parents for her hand (today increasingly informal/symbolic). 2) ENGAGEMENT — formalizes the commitment with the exchange of rings (worn on the right hand until the wedding, when they move to the left), usually with an intimate celebration. 3) RELIGIOUS CEREMONY — held in a church, conducted by a pastor (evangelicals/Adventists) or priest (Catholics), with vows and a blessing of the couple. 4) CELEBRATION — a party with a reception, food, music, and dancing. 5) LEGALITY — the civil marriage at the registry office, before a justice of the peace and witnesses, is what has legal validity in Brazil (it can be done together with the religious one in a "religious marriage with civil effect"). 6) CULTURAL SYMBOLS — the bride's white dress, veil and garland, the groom's suit, rings, the bouquet (and the ritual of tossing it), groomsmen and bridesmaids, and the groom waiting for the bride at the altar. — Brazil recognizes only the civil marriage (registry office) as legal; the religious ceremony is symbolic/spiritual and only has civil effect if performed with prior qualification at the registry office (a rare practice). The ring is worn on the right hand during the engagement and on the left hand after the wedding — a 2,000-year-old Greco-Roman tradition.

9. Write 300 words about a composer, painter, or sculptor from your country who is internationally recognized for their art, and present in video, audio, or photograph one of their best-known works.

   Answer: You must write 300 words about an internationally renowned Brazilian artist: a composer (Tom Jobim, Heitor Villa-Lobos), a painter (Tarsila do Amaral, Romero Britto, Cândido Portinari), or a sculptor (Aleijadinho, Burle Marx). Present a famous work in video, audio, or photograph to the Honor instructor. — Tom Jobim (Garota de Ipanema, 1962) is the most-played Brazilian worldwide; Tarsila do Amaral had her first retrospective at MoMA (New York) in 2018; Aleijadinho sculpted the 12 prophets of Congonhas (UNESCO Heritage 1985); Romero Britto has been a reference in global pop art since the 1990s.

10. List the peoples (native and colonizers) that gave rise to your current society. Indicate at least 2 cultural expressions inherited from each of those peoples.

    Answer: Brazil is formed by: Indigenous peoples (cassava, the oca dwelling, hammocks); the Portuguese (language, Catholicism); enslaved Africans (samba, capoeira, feijoada). Others: Italians (pizza, wine), Germans (draft beer, the Oktoberfest), Japanese (sushi, manga), Arabs (kibbeh, sfiha). Each people left unique customs. — Brazil's ethnic composition (IBGE 2022) is diverse: 45% mixed-race, 43% white, 11% black, 1% Indigenous and Asian. Italian immigration (1880-1930) brought the first major European wave after slavery; Japanese immigration began in 1908 with the ship Kasato Maru; Arabs (Syrians, Lebanese) concentrated in São Paulo in the 1900s.

11. Know 10 different forms of native art or craftwork common in your country. Demonstrate the ability to produce 3 of these items.

    Answer: Ten forms of Brazilian craftwork: bobbin lace, fabric painting, clay pottery (Pernambuco), embroidery, wood carving, straw work (mat, hat), leather (Northeast), canvas painting, Indigenous beadwork, cotton weaving. Demonstrate skill in 3 of them to the instructor with a finished piece. — Bobbin lace comes from Madeira (Portugal) and is traditional in Ceará; the pottery of Caruaru (PE) gained fame with Mestre Vitalino; straw weaving is strong in Tocantins, Maranhão, and Bahia. UNESCO recognized the craft of the potter women of Goiabeiras (ES) as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2002.

12. What causes a people to lose its culture? Analyze whether this is beneficial or harmful.

    Answer: Causes: globalization, mass media (films, social networks), forced migration, colonization, and persecution of traditions. Analysis: cultural loss is harmful because it erases identity, roots, and unique heritage; some negative traditions (prejudice, idolatry) can be abandoned, but language, food, and art must be preserved. — UNESCO estimates that 1 language dies every 14 days in the world (40% of the 7,000 languages are at risk); in Brazil, of the 274 Indigenous languages recorded in 1500, only about 180 remain. The Convention on Cultural Diversity (2005) protects traditional cultures, and the Intangible Heritages (Frevo, Capoeira) are instruments of preservation.