"A few years ago, the virtual world was not considered real," Gilberto Gil told the Columbus Council on World Affairs yesterday at the Downtown Athletic Club. "Today, it's one of our most important realities."
Gil was a Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter in Brazil before becoming a government official five years ago. He was one of the founders of tropicalismo, a form of music developed in the late 1960s that incorporated socially relevant lyrics.
But the political content of his songs also led to his imprisonment by the military government then in power, and Gil was sent into exile in 1969. He returned in the 1970s after expanding his career in Europe and the United States, playing with groups such as Yes, Pink Floyd and the Incredible String Band.
He transformed his activism into a second career in government. Gil is a leading international voice on behalf of fostering arts and culture through digital means.
