Carranca

カハンカとは、サンフランシスコ川など大河が交通の中心手段である地域で航行する船の船首に飾る木彫りの像である。人間世界と神々をむすぶ使者とみなされ、神聖で神秘的な役割を担った。動物と人間のどちらともつかない相貌をもち、船舶とその乗組員を嵐や雨、稲妻や雷鳴、そして事故から守るとされた。河川輸送の衰退にともない、今日ではアート作品として制作され続けている。

Carrancas are wooden sculptures, which decorated the bows of the boats that circulated through large rivers, such as São Francisco river, in the regions where they constitute the main transportation means. Seen as messengers between the men’s and gods’ worlds, carrancas had divine and mythical assignments. With their ambiguous features, between the animal and the human, they were intended to protect the vessels and their crews from storms, rain, lighting and thunder, as well as from accidents. With the decline of the river transportation, they continued to be made, now as art.

Carrancas são esculturas em madeira, que ornamentavam as proas dos barcos que circulavam pelos grandes rios, como o rio São Francisco, nas regiões onde estes constituem o principal meio de transporte. Vistas como mensageiras entre o mundo dos homens e o dos deuses, as carrancas tinham atribuições divinas e míticas. Com suas feições ambíguas, entre o animal e o humano, destinavam-se a proteger as embarcações e seus tripulantes das tempestades, das chuvas, dos raios e trovões e, também, dos acidentes. Com o declínio dos transportes fluviais, elas continuaram a ser feitas, agora como arte.