Bahian white: the dispersion of candomblé imagery in the public sphere of bahia

For most of its history, candomblé was a marginal and persecuted spirit possession cult. From the 1920s onward, however, the cult evolved into the “trademark” of Bahia, a state in northeastern Brazil. The color white—a spotless and impeccable white—has come to dominate the public face of the cult: evoking positive connotations such as cleanliness and purity, the color helped to portray candomblé as the splendid cultural heritage of the Bahian state as well as a respectable African religion. However, the “politics of white” has always been intersected by a “poetics of white,” as Bahian artists, writers, and other image producers sought to destabilize the condoned meanings of white. Hinting at that which is absent from the impeccable surfaces of candomblé's public appearance, this “poetics of white” produced a layered public understanding of the cult. As people engage in speculations over the “true” candomblé that lies hidden behind its public façade, claims to be “in the know” reconfigure the notion of cultural capital, and new standards of belonging come into being.