Abstract
The berimbau is an African-derived gourd-resonated musical bow. During Brazilian history undergone not only physical transformation, but also social, from instrument that belonged to the lowest strata of the population, to the national symbol and also icon of contemporary black culture and resistance against racial and class oppression.
The berimbau is encountered in an unusually broad spectrum of deeply embedded social practices within Brazilian culture and has come to represent one of the most prominent symbols of individual, collective, and national Brazilian identity. Berimbau appears in many different genres of music, theater, film, art and literature.