Makely Ka and his Motorised Horse

Makely Ka playing with Rodrigo Torino

It is not uncommon to see a list of different specialisations, careers and job functions in the biography of a number of Brazilians. Perhaps due to periods of limited resources, we had no choice but to diversify our skills, by wearing different hats at the same time. Or perhaps, this is just intrinsic to the Brazilian way of life. After all, Brazil is a very diverse country in terms of people, landscape and cultures. It is possible that it is this combination that produces artists with a holistic and flexible creative approach. Makely Ka is one of those artists. The composer, poet, writer, songwriter, magazine editor and traveller from the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, is an unstoppable creative machine.

His latest project, “Cavalo Motor” (Motorised Horse), took him to an adventure through the Brazilian backlands, where he dived deeply into the roots of the popular Brazilian culture, assimilating elements from the oral tradition such as storytelling, tongue-twists, lullabies and folk songs.

“Cavalo Motor” is based on the epic book of João Guimarães Rosa, “Grande Sertão Veredas”, translated as “The Devil to Pay in the Backlands”.  Mounted on a bicycle and equipped with a computer and Internet connection, Makely Ka travelled through the same paths as Riobaldo, the main character from the book of Guimarães Rosa. The idea was to represent a symbiotic relationship between man and machine. The computer that enabled him to report his adventure in real-time through the Internet, was powered by the energy produced from his many hours of cycling. The motorised horse, he is referring to, is the Internet and not the bicycle. Makely himself, the cyclist, becomes the interface between two different technologies. Through this project, the artist draws a parallel between the past and the present of the Backlands, protesting against the unsustainable and predatory development of the region, with its monocultures of soya and eucalyptus, the fields of charcoal burning ovens and the destructive exploitation of minerals. At the same time, he sees “Cavalo Motor” as a way to renew hope towards the opening of new paths for the human civilisation. These would be paths that would lead us to a healthier relationship between humans and technology, with developments that would consider the importance of interpersonal relations as well as efficient, clean and cost-effective solutions to current urban problems.

Makely Ka Official Links

http://makelyka.com.br/

http://www.myspace.com/makelyka

http://soundcloud.com/makely-ka