Meninas de Sinhá: tramas e urdiduras das práticas musicais em diálogo com a saúde mental e a inclusão social

Abstract

ABSTRACT This dissertation is the result of an ethnographic research developed with the Meninas de Sinhá Cultural Group between 2018 and 2022 in a line of research in Music and Culture. Besides the bibliographic work or the conduction of interviews, participant observation was a consistent tool for in-depth contact with our research collaborators. Our objective was to investigate the musical practice of the group, focusing on the senses reached by it, in different spheres. Issues directly linked to mental health and social inclusion were naturally imposed from the discourse and musical practice. Topics like such as racism, sexism, classism and ageism dialogued closely with our research, given that the Meninas de Sinhá Cultural Group is composed of women aged over sixty, most of whom are black and live in a poor neighborhood in Belo Horizonte. In addition to the objective related to the investigation of musical practice, we assumed the existence of a collaborative network around the group, and part of our research was aimed at revealing its dynamics, in addition to its constitution and conformation over time. We found that it is a heterogeneous network that, in a diachronic approach, is sometimes more robust, sometimes more rarefied. This network was present and was of utmost importance not only during the entire trajectory of the group (which in 2022 completes 26 years of existence) but also during the pandemic that crossed us between 2020 and 2021 at its most critical moment. Keywords: Meninas de Sinhá – Musical Practice – Collaborative Network – Mental Health – Social Inclusion.