Representatives of samba schools, intellectuals, celebrities, admirers and, most importantly, friends of Rosa Magalhães were gathered to bid farewell to the woman who is considered the greatest carnival designer in Rio de Janeiro. Each one remembered their time with her with great affection. The samba schools paid tribute to Rosa, each leaving a flag of the association on top of her.
“She wanted her life to be fun. Even during Carnival, she didn’t like sad themes. She always liked something funny. And I think she sought all of that in life, always having fun. Always looking for something light, colorful,” says Mauro Leite, carnival designer from the São Clemente samba school, who was Rosa’s assistant and friend for decades.
Rosa always cared for and worried about her friends. Leite says he spoke to her this Thursday (25). She called just to ask how the meeting he had with the president of São Clemente had gone.
“She called me and asked: So, how did the conversation go? I said: Oh, everything went well. Then she said: That’s what I wanted to know. That was the last thing she said to me,” says Leite. He remembers his friend very fondly. They were working on a project together. This week he went to her house several times.
He also says that Rosa hadn’t been feeling well and that she didn’t like doctors very much. Died in Rio de Janeiroon Thursday night (25), at the age of 77. The wake was open to the public at the Palácio da Cidade, headquarters of Rio’s city hall, on Friday afternoon (26). The body was buried in the São João Batista cemetery.
Wake for carnival artist Rosa Magalhães, at the City Palace – Tania Rêgo/Agency Brazil
Tributes
Friends and admirers bid farewell to carnival artist Rosa Magalhães, at the City Palace – Tania Rêgo/Agency Brazil
Rosa had dedicated over 50 years to art. The 1982 title with Império Serrano made the plot Bum Bum Paticumbum Prugurundum to be among the most famous of the Rio carnival.
In Imperatriz Leopoldinense, the carnival lover managed to make the school achieve supremacy for years in a row. She won the championship twice in 1994 and 1995 and three times in 1999, 2000 and 2001. The last championship won by the carnival artist was in 2013, leading the Unidos de Vila Isabel carnival. She never stopped working, whether on the avenue or on other projects. The last parade of her career was in 2023, at Paraíso do Tuiuti.
“She is the reference. I think that, for me, Rosa is the ruler. She is the ruler with the right measure of what it means to be good at storytelling, at producing costumes, at the carnival party that can bring joy, that can teach, that can denounce”, says the carnival designer from Imperatriz Leopoldinense, Leandro Vieira. “Rosa is the template, she is the template for the story of the victorious Imperatriz. And I think that is why we are… everyone here is kind of choked up, like, with our voices, because we have lost the template a little”, he says emotionally.
For journalist and writer Fábio Fabato, who was friends with the carnival artist, Rosa was “simply the best, because she was the kind of person who thought of stories that textbooks don’t tell. She discovered stories that gave us a sense of identity about Brazil. So, if we can define who Rosa Magalhães was, she is a discoverer of the Brazils that sometimes we are not told about.”
Fabato emphasizes that she was not just a carnival artist, she was a Brazilian artist, comparable to great artists such as Tarsila do Amaral.
“She will be greatly missed. She was a great artist. She was not just a carnival artist or a set designer. She was a Brazilian artist, in my opinion, on the same level as Tarsila and Portinari, precisely because she was the greatest, at the greatest popular festival.”
Beija-flor’s carnival designer, João Vitor Araújo, who signed the Paraíso do Tuiuti parade with Rosa, the last of her career, said that the last time he spoke to her was on Friendship Day, July 20, when they arranged, as they always did, to have coffee, on Saturday (27).
“It took me almost 40 years to meet Rosa Magalhães, and we worked together and spent time together. After that, it was as if we had been together for 40 years. Our friendship was so intense and strong. Today I am devastated, the culture is devastated, Brazil has lost the greatest popular artist of all time. I am certain that Rosa Magalhães was the greatest popular artist of all time,” he says.
Member of União da Ilha says goodbye to carnival artist Rosa Magalhães – Tania Rêgo/Agency Brazil
Authorities
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva paid tribute to Rosa Magalhães, in publication in X. “The greatest champion of the Sambadrome, Rosa Magalhães told stories of Brazil in a genuinely Brazilian way, at the Rio de Janeiro Carnival, a heritage of our culture. She leaves a legacy of art, beauty and many lessons that marked and made history in the samba schools. My condolences to the family, friends and admirers of this unique artist.”
The governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Cláudio Castro, released a note of condolence in which he said that the world of samba “has lost one of the greatest personalities of Rio’s Carnival”. The governor recalled the titles won and the dedication to Carnival and stated that Rosa Magalhães is and will always be “a reference for all samba lovers, with her themes marked by sumptuousness, colors and lots of joy. I express my condolences to her family, friends and all her fellow Carnival fans. Rio will always be grateful for all the stories she told”.
Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes also posted tribute at X: “We have lost one of the most brilliant minds of our greatest cultural event. Rosa Magalhães’ story is intertwined with that of Carnival itself. In a unique way, she enchanted us all with her ability to materialize dreams on the avenue, to tell stories in a unique way and to move those who watched.”
