Bahia is more than just acarajé and the Olodum beat.

“Have you ever been to Bahia, girl? No? Then go…” said the Pernambuco singer and songwriter Lenine in the song “Lá e Cá” to draw the attention of those who have never experienced a unique state of mind, the Bahian one. The phrase refers to the Bahia of the city of Salvador, the one with the Olodum beat, the Acarajé on the slopes of Pelourinho, the Axé music that took over Brazil in the 80s after Luiz Caldas's “nega do cabelo duro” (girl with the hard hair).

This is the Bahia sold to Brazilian and foreign tourists, but it is not the CULTURAL BAHIA that is composed of 417 municipalities, each with its own unique characteristics, and each region with its diverse cultural expressions. What is experienced and celebrated in Salvador is not always what the Sertão region of the state consumes, where forró music draws crowds to its popular festivals and helps boost the region's economy with artists that "BAHIA" doesn't know because they are not showcased by the state's culture department.

There is an urgent need for culture in Bahia to be democratized and to stop solely promoting what is produced in Salvador and the surrounding region. Various calls for proposals for artists and producers are launched monthly for these two regions. But what about the rest of Bahia?

In 2007, when Jaques Wagner was still governor and Márcio Meireles was secretary of culture, the II State Conference on Culture took place in the city of Feira de Santana at the state university. During those days, we presented the proposal that the administration of culture needed to leave the city of Salvador and also be present in the interior of the state.

The proposal to create Cultural Departments in all regional headquarters was presented, given Bahia's vast territorial expanse. It was unanimously approved by those present at the meeting. At the time, Meireles said that the proposal would be taken to the governor and that he would defend it, as he believed it was the best path for the diversity of Bahian culture. But to this day, it hasn't been implemented.

They can call them Cultural Hubs, Cultural Directorates, Cultural Superintendencies, or whatever they want, but the government of Bahia needs to extend its governmental structure to all regions and see its people as a whole, not just what is done in Salvador and the Recôncavo.

With a governmental structure for culture in all regions, outstanding regional expressions will have opportunities to be showcased and their work reached more people through exchanges within the state, with regional calls for proposals, and with technicians who understand each region's unique characteristics. The proposal does not aim to dismantle the structure in the capital, but rather to value culture in the regions.

Some might say it will be more expense for the government. I say it's an investment in the local people. And we'll eat acarajé or buchada, listen to the beat of Olodum or the Forró of Zezinho da Ema, but we need culture in Bahia to be a whole, not just a fragment of what it is.