Mestre Zé Negão

Cultures of Resistance Awardee — Brazil

Mestre Zé Negão, born in 1950 in Northeast Brazil, is a musician and guardian of the rare musical subgenre “Coco,” which combines African rhythms with themes of labor, enslavement, and liberation. A descendant of enslaved grandparents, he grew up working in sugarcane fields, learning Coco musical traditions from elders. Zé Negão is one of the few active Coco practitioners in Brazil and is dedicated to its preservation. He founded the Negão Project more than 40 years ago, which organizes percussion and dance groups, workshops, lectures, and cultural activities aimed at community engagement and cultural preservation.

Mestre Zé Negão received a Cultures of Resistance Award (CoR Award) in 2024. He is using the award to support the Negão Project.

Follow him on Instagram here to learn more about his work.

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