Museum of the Portuguese Language
Encyclopedia
The Museum of the Portuguese Language (Portuguese: Museu da Língua Portuguesa) is an interactive Portuguese language
— and Linguistics/Language Development in general — museum in São Paulo
, Brazil
. It is housed in the Estação da Luz
train station, in the urban district of the same name. 300 thousand passengers arrive and leave the station every day, and the choice of the building for the launching of the museum is connected to the fact that, it was mainly here that thousands of non-Portuguese speaking immigrants arriving from Europe and Asia via the Port of Santos
into São Paulo got acquainted with the language for the first time. Moreover, Portuguese immigrants must have also got confused with the Brazilian Portuguese variations and/or dialects. The idea of a museum-monument to the language was conceived by the São Paulo Secretary of Culture in conjunction with the Roberto Marinho
Foundation, at a cost of around 37 million reais
.
The objective of the museum is to create a living representation of the Portuguese language, where visitors may be surprised and educated by unusual and unfamiliar aspects of their own native language. Secondly, the caretakers of the museum, as expressed on the museum website "desire that, in this museum, the public has access to new knowledge and reflection, in an intense and pleasurable manner," as it notices the relationship of the language with others,as well as its proto-languages. The museum targets the Portuguese speaking population, made up of peoples from many regions and social backgrounds, but who still have not had the opportunity to gain a broader understanding of the origins, the history and the continuous evolution of the language.
The museum was dedicated on Monday, 20 March 2006, with the presence of the Minister of Culture
and singer Gilberto Gil
, representing the Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
. Also present were the Minister of Culture of Portugal, Isabel Pires de Lima, the governor of São Paulo, Geraldo Alckmin
, former President
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
, the mayor
of Lisbon
António Carmona Rodrigues, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guinea-Bissau
António Isaac Monteiro
, the President of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
and other representative authorities from all Portuguese-speaking nations. Gilberto Gil spoke during the ceremony:
Sílvia Finguerut, director of Patrimony
and the Environment for the Roberto Marinho
foundation, claimed that there didn't exist a museum in the world dedicated solely to a language. Finguerut noted the symbolism of the museum's location in the Estação da Luz:
Geraldo Alckmin
alluded to the importance of the museum to the Portuguese-speaking community, to the students, the professors, and to the preservation of the language itself.
José Roberto Marinho finished the ceremony:
The following day, 21 March, the doors of the museum were opened to the public.
The project was conceived in 2001. It is speculated by many sources that São Paulo
was chosen as the site of the museum for its symbolism, as it is the largest Portuguese-speaking city and metropolitan region in the world, with 20 million inhabitants.
Among the partners in the project were Gilberto Gil
, IBM Brazil, the Brazilian Postal Service, Rede Globo
, Petrobras
, Vivo
, AES Eletropaulo, Grupo Votorantim and BNDES
. Also supporting the effort were the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, the mayorship
of São Paulo, the CPTM
, the Otis Elevator Company
, Carrier
and the Luso-Brazilian Foundation.
The idea of a Portuguese Language museum came from Ralph Appelbaum
, who also developed the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
in Washington D.C., and the fossil room of the American Museum of Natural History
in New York City. The architectural
project was undertaken by Brazilian father-son duo Paulo
and Pedro Mendes da Rocha. The director of the museum is sociologist
Isa Grinspun Ferraz, who coordinated a team of thirty Portuguese language specialists to implement the museum. The artistic director is Marcello Dantas
.
The museum itself features innovative and predominantly virtual exhibits which feature a mixture of art
, technology
and interactivity, while keeping in mind the historical building the museum is housed in. It consists of diverse exhibitions with hands-on activities, videos, sounds and images about Linguistics and Portuguese language
developments.
The museum occupies three floors of the Estação da Luz and is 4,333 m² in area. The entryway to the museum contains the "Tree of the Language", a three-story high sculpture
, created by Brazil
ian architect Rafic Farah. The leaves are outlines of objects and the roots are formed by words that gave rise to those words in Portuguese. The tree can be seen through transparent walls when using the elevator.
The first project of the museum was the "Project of the Formation of Educators", coordinated by the State Secretary of São Paulo and by the Roberto Marinho
Foundation. The main goal of this program is the instruction of 4,800 teachers in the areas of the Portuguese language
, literature
, arts education, geography
and history
, involving around 300 public schools.
, its history, diversity, power and importance. The screen reveals a revolving door that leads to the "Plaza of the Language".
, Victor Lopes and Carlos Nader. Each projection is nine meters wide and six minutes in length, and deals with a specific theme; these include dance
, parties, carnivals, football (soccer)
, music
, human relations, food
, values
, knowledge and Portuguese culture. The screen in the Grand Gallery is considered one of the largest projection screens in the world, at 106 meters wide.
with the support of etymologist Mário Viaro.
. Visitors can navigate the map and access audio clips from speakers in various states of the Federation.
, including two totems for African languages
, two for South American languages
, one for Spanish, one for English and French, one for immigrant languages and the last for Portuguese in the world. Each totem has three interactive monitors, one on each face. The objective of these is to show the rich cultural heritage of the language, and the contributions of many different areas the language and the Brazilian identity.
with terraces, this area is a "planetarium of words", with visual effects that are projected on the ceiling and a lighted floor. The projections include the great classics of prose
and poetry
in Portuguese along with sounds and images. The images were created by Eduardo Menezes, Guilherme Specht and André Wissenbach, with artistic director
Marcello Dantas
and the music is produced by Cacá Machado.
The feature includes poems by Carlos Drummond de Andrade
, Gregório de Matos, Fernando Pessoa
and Luís de Camões
, texts by João Guimarães Rosa
, Euclides da Cunha
and Machado de Assis and songs by Noel Rosa
and Vinícius de Moraes
. The work was assembled by literature professors and musicians José Miguel Wisnik and Arthur Nestrovski.
The presentation consists of three verses, twenty minutes each. The narrators are Arnaldo Antunes
, Bete Coelho, Chico Buarque
, Juca de Oliveira, Maria Bethânia
, Paulo José
and Zélia Duncan
among others.
origins of languages are shown. The history and evolution of Portuguese is traced from Etruscan
through Classical Latin
, Vulgar Latin
and old Romance languages
to the three elements that make up the heart of contemporary Portuguese: Lusitanian Portuguese, languages indigenous to Brazil and African languages
. The panel covers six thousand years of human history and is the product of research by professor Ataliba de Castilho.
A selection of 120 large works of Brazil
ian literature complement the exhibition of the history of the language.
In this area, the temporary exhibits of the museum are displayed. The first exhibit in this space is a tribute to the 50-year anniversary of Grande Sertão: Veredas. This exhibit contains seven paths, each corresponding to a character or important aspect of the book.
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
— and Linguistics/Language Development in general — museum in São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. It is housed in the Estação da Luz
Luz Station
The Luz Station is the common name for a train station in the Luz neighbourhood in São Paulo, Brazil. The station is part of the metropolitan rail system ran by the CPTM. The station is mostly notable for housing the Museum of the Portuguese Language, established in 2006...
train station, in the urban district of the same name. 300 thousand passengers arrive and leave the station every day, and the choice of the building for the launching of the museum is connected to the fact that, it was mainly here that thousands of non-Portuguese speaking immigrants arriving from Europe and Asia via the Port of Santos
Port of Santos
The Port of Santos is located in the city of Santos, Brazil. As of 2006, it is the busiest container port in Latin America. It possesses a wide variety of cargo handling terminals - solid and liquid bulk, containers and general loads. It is Brazil's leading port in container traffic...
into São Paulo got acquainted with the language for the first time. Moreover, Portuguese immigrants must have also got confused with the Brazilian Portuguese variations and/or dialects. The idea of a museum-monument to the language was conceived by the São Paulo Secretary of Culture in conjunction with the Roberto Marinho
Roberto Marinho
Roberto Pisani Marinho was the president and founder of the biggest Brazilian TV channel, Globo, a television network with 113 stations and associates...
Foundation, at a cost of around 37 million reais
Brazilian real
The real is the present-day currency of Brazil. Its sign is R$ and its ISO code is BRL. It is subdivided into 100 centavos ....
.
The objective of the museum is to create a living representation of the Portuguese language, where visitors may be surprised and educated by unusual and unfamiliar aspects of their own native language. Secondly, the caretakers of the museum, as expressed on the museum website "desire that, in this museum, the public has access to new knowledge and reflection, in an intense and pleasurable manner," as it notices the relationship of the language with others,as well as its proto-languages. The museum targets the Portuguese speaking population, made up of peoples from many regions and social backgrounds, but who still have not had the opportunity to gain a broader understanding of the origins, the history and the continuous evolution of the language.
Opening ceremony
Minister of culture
A culture minister is a Cabinet position in some governments responsible for protecting the national heritage of a country and promoting cultural expression....
and singer Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira , better known as Gilberto Gil or , is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, and songwriter, known for both his musical innovation and political commitment...
, representing the Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , known popularly as Lula, served as the 35th President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.A founding member of the Workers' Party , he ran for President three times unsuccessfully, first in the 1989 election. Lula achieved victory in the 2002 election, and was inaugurated as...
. Also present were the Minister of Culture of Portugal, Isabel Pires de Lima, the governor of São Paulo, Geraldo Alckmin
Geraldo Alckmin
Geraldo José Rodrigues Alckmin Filho , known as Geraldo Alckmin is a Brazilian politician, who has been elected as the new governor of São Paulo, doing it for the second time, and former candidate for president of Brazil in the 2006 Elections...
, former President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Fernando Henrique Cardoso – also known by his initials FHC – was the 34th President of the Federative Republic of Brazil for two terms from January 1, 1995 to December 31, 2002. He is an accomplished sociologist, professor and politician...
, the mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
António Carmona Rodrigues, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau
The Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west....
António Isaac Monteiro
António Isaac Monteiro
António Isaac Monteiro is the former foreign minister of Guinea-Bissau. He was in that position from 9 November 2005 to 17 April 2007, in the government of Prime Minister Aristides Gomes. He was previously the Minister of Development.-References:...
, the President of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is a Portuguese private foundation of public utility whose statutory aims are in the fields of arts, charity, education, and science...
and other representative authorities from all Portuguese-speaking nations. Gilberto Gil spoke during the ceremony:
Sílvia Finguerut, director of Patrimony
Patrimony of affectation
In the civil law tradition the patrimony of affectation is a patrimony, or legal entitlement, that can be divided for a purpose, as being distinct from the general patrimony of the person. It is similar to the common law concept of the trust in some aspects where property is held by an...
and the Environment for the Roberto Marinho
Roberto Marinho
Roberto Pisani Marinho was the president and founder of the biggest Brazilian TV channel, Globo, a television network with 113 stations and associates...
foundation, claimed that there didn't exist a museum in the world dedicated solely to a language. Finguerut noted the symbolism of the museum's location in the Estação da Luz:
Geraldo Alckmin
Geraldo Alckmin
Geraldo José Rodrigues Alckmin Filho , known as Geraldo Alckmin is a Brazilian politician, who has been elected as the new governor of São Paulo, doing it for the second time, and former candidate for president of Brazil in the 2006 Elections...
alluded to the importance of the museum to the Portuguese-speaking community, to the students, the professors, and to the preservation of the language itself.
José Roberto Marinho finished the ceremony:
The following day, 21 March, the doors of the museum were opened to the public.
Development
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
was chosen as the site of the museum for its symbolism, as it is the largest Portuguese-speaking city and metropolitan region in the world, with 20 million inhabitants.
Among the partners in the project were Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira , better known as Gilberto Gil or , is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, and songwriter, known for both his musical innovation and political commitment...
, IBM Brazil, the Brazilian Postal Service, Rede Globo
Rede Globo
Rede Globo , or simply Globo, is a Brazilian television network, launched by media mogul Roberto Marinho on April 26, 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Organizações Globo, being by far the largest of its holdings...
, Petrobras
Petrobras
Petróleo Brasileiro or Petrobras is a semi-public Brazilian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest company in Latin America by market capitalization and revenue, and the largest company headquartered in the Southern Hemisphere by market...
, Vivo
Vivo (mobile phone network)
Vivo is the largest mobile phone service provider in Brazil and in South America with over 60 million users. It originated from the merger of several Brazilian mobile phone operations under a joint-venture owned equally by Portugal Telecom and Spain's Telefónica; however, Telefónica is now its...
, AES Eletropaulo, Grupo Votorantim and BNDES
BNDES
The Brazilian Development Bank is a federal public company associated with the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade. Its goal is to provide long-term financing for endeavors that contribute to the country's development...
. Also supporting the effort were the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is a Portuguese private foundation of public utility whose statutory aims are in the fields of arts, charity, education, and science...
, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, the mayorship
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of São Paulo, the CPTM
Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos
Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos is a commuter rail company owned by the São Paulo State Secretariat for Metropolitan Transports. It was created in 1992 from several railroads that already existed in Greater São Paulo, Brazil....
, the Otis Elevator Company
Otis Elevator Company
The Otis Elevator Company is the world's largest manufacturer of vertical transportation systems today, principally focusing on elevators and escalators...
, Carrier
Carrier Corporation
The Carrier Corporation is one of the world’s largest manufacturers and distributors of heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, and a global leader in the commercial refrigeration and food service equipment industry...
and the Luso-Brazilian Foundation.
The idea of a Portuguese Language museum came from Ralph Appelbaum
Ralph Appelbaum
Ralph Appelbaum Associates is the world's largest museum exhibition design firm. It has offices in New York City, London and Beijing.- Overview :...
, who also developed the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history...
in Washington D.C., and the fossil room of the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
in New York City. The architectural
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
project was undertaken by Brazilian father-son duo Paulo
Paulo Mendes da Rocha
Paulo Mendes da Rocha is a Brazilian architect, honored with the Mies van der Rohe Prize and the Pritzker Prize .Paulo attended the Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie College of Architecture, graduating in 1954...
and Pedro Mendes da Rocha. The director of the museum is sociologist
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
Isa Grinspun Ferraz, who coordinated a team of thirty Portuguese language specialists to implement the museum. The artistic director is Marcello Dantas
Marcello Dantas
Marcello Dantas is one of the main figures in the convergence of art and technology in Brazil.- Biography :Dantas studied diplomacy in Brasilia, history of art in Florence and graduated in Film and Television at New York University with post-graduated extension in Interactive Telecommunications at...
.
Museum
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
and interactivity, while keeping in mind the historical building the museum is housed in. It consists of diverse exhibitions with hands-on activities, videos, sounds and images about Linguistics and Portuguese language
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
developments.
The museum occupies three floors of the Estação da Luz and is 4,333 m² in area. The entryway to the museum contains the "Tree of the Language", a three-story high sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
, created by Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian architect Rafic Farah. The leaves are outlines of objects and the roots are formed by words that gave rise to those words in Portuguese. The tree can be seen through transparent walls when using the elevator.
The first project of the museum was the "Project of the Formation of Educators", coordinated by the State Secretary of São Paulo and by the Roberto Marinho
Roberto Marinho
Roberto Pisani Marinho was the president and founder of the biggest Brazilian TV channel, Globo, a television network with 113 stations and associates...
Foundation. The main goal of this program is the instruction of 4,800 teachers in the areas of the Portuguese language
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, arts education, geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
and history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, involving around 300 public schools.
Auditorium
The auditorium contains a large screen, nine meters wide, which plays a short film created by Antônio Risério and directed by Tadeu Jungle. This film covers the rise of human languageLanguage
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
, its history, diversity, power and importance. The screen reveals a revolving door that leads to the "Plaza of the Language".
Grand gallery
This giant space contains a much larger screen, 106 meters in length, which projects eleven films simultaneously, directed by Marcello DantasMarcello Dantas
Marcello Dantas is one of the main figures in the convergence of art and technology in Brazil.- Biography :Dantas studied diplomacy in Brasilia, history of art in Florence and graduated in Film and Television at New York University with post-graduated extension in Interactive Telecommunications at...
, Victor Lopes and Carlos Nader. Each projection is nine meters wide and six minutes in length, and deals with a specific theme; these include dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
, parties, carnivals, football (soccer)
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, human relations, food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
, values
Value (personal and cultural)
A personal or cultural value is an absolute or relative ethical value, the assumption of which can be the basis for ethical action. A value system is a set of consistent values and measures. A principle value is a foundation upon which other values and measures of integrity are based...
, knowledge and Portuguese culture. The screen in the Grand Gallery is considered one of the largest projection screens in the world, at 106 meters wide.
Word alley
In this area, visitors entertain themselves by moving around images containing fragments of words, including prefixes, suffixes and radicals in a game to try to form complete words. When this is done, the table is transformed into a screen that runs an animation about the origin and meaning of the given word. This was designed by Marcelo TasMarcelo Tas
Marcelo Tristão Athayde de Souza , better known as Marcelo Tas, is a Brazilian director, writer, actor and television host.He is the current host of the Brazilian version of Caiga Quien Caiga, and has been since 2008....
with the support of etymologist Mário Viaro.
Map of the speakers
This interactive display shows the various dialects throughout BrazilBrazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. Visitors can navigate the map and access audio clips from speakers in various states of the Federation.
Crosswords
In this space there are triangular multimedia totems dedicated to the languages that formed and influenced Brazilian PortugueseBrazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese is a group of Portuguese dialects written and spoken by most of the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a few million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Paraguay....
, including two totems for African languages
African languages
There are over 2100 and by some counts over 3000 languages spoken natively in Africa in several major language families:*Afro-Asiatic spread throughout the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Sahel...
, two for South American languages
Languages of South America
The languages of South America can be divided into three broad groups: the languages of the colonial powers; many indigenous languages, some of which enjoy co-official status alongside the colonial languages; and various pockets of other languages spoken by immigrant populations that have survived...
, one for Spanish, one for English and French, one for immigrant languages and the last for Portuguese in the world. Each totem has three interactive monitors, one on each face. The objective of these is to show the rich cultural heritage of the language, and the contributions of many different areas the language and the Brazilian identity.
Plaza of the language
Resembling an amphitheatreAmphitheatre
An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...
with terraces, this area is a "planetarium of words", with visual effects that are projected on the ceiling and a lighted floor. The projections include the great classics of prose
Prose
Prose is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure...
and poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
in Portuguese along with sounds and images. The images were created by Eduardo Menezes, Guilherme Specht and André Wissenbach, with artistic director
Artistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company, that handles the organization's artistic direction. He or she is generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the organization is generally a non-profit organization...
Marcello Dantas
Marcello Dantas
Marcello Dantas is one of the main figures in the convergence of art and technology in Brazil.- Biography :Dantas studied diplomacy in Brasilia, history of art in Florence and graduated in Film and Television at New York University with post-graduated extension in Interactive Telecommunications at...
and the music is produced by Cacá Machado.
The feature includes poems by Carlos Drummond de Andrade
Carlos Drummond de Andrade
Carlos Drummond de Andrade was perhaps the most influential Brazilian poet of the 20th century. He has become something of a national poet; his poem "Canção Amiga" was printed on the 50 cruzados note...
, Gregório de Matos, Fernando Pessoa
Fernando Pessoa
Fernando Pessoa, born Fernando António Nogueira de Seabra Pessoa , was a Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic and translator described as one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century and one of the greatest poets in the Portuguese language.-Early years in Durban:On 13 July...
and Luís de Camões
Luís de Camões
Luís Vaz de Camões is considered Portugal's and the Portuguese language's greatest poet. His mastery of verse has been compared to that of Shakespeare, Vondel, Homer, Virgil and Dante. He wrote a considerable amount of lyrical poetry and drama but is best remembered for his epic work Os Lusíadas...
, texts by João Guimarães Rosa
João Guimarães Rosa
João Guimarães Rosa was a Brazilian novelist, considered by many to be one of the greatest Brazilian novelists born in the 20th century. His best-known work is the novel Grande Sertão: Veredas...
, Euclides da Cunha
Euclides da Cunha
Euclides da Cunha was a Brazilian writer, sociologist and engineer. His most important work is Os Sertões , a non-fictional account of the military expeditions promoted by the Brazilian government against the rebellious village of Canudos, known as the War of Canudos...
and Machado de Assis and songs by Noel Rosa
Noel Rosa
Noel de Medeiros Rosa was a Brazilian songwriter, singer, and guitar/banjo player. One of the greatest names in Brazilian popular music, Noel gave a new twist to samba, combining its Afro-Brazilian roots with a more urban, witty language and making it a vehicle for ironic social commentary.Noel...
and Vinícius de Moraes
Vinicius de Moraes
Marcus Vinicius de Moraes , known as Vinicius de Moraes and nicknamed O Poetinho , was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Son of Lydia Cruz de Moraes and Clodoaldo Pereira da Silva Moraes, he was a seminal figure in contemporary Brazilian music...
. The work was assembled by literature professors and musicians José Miguel Wisnik and Arthur Nestrovski.
The presentation consists of three verses, twenty minutes each. The narrators are Arnaldo Antunes
Arnaldo Antunes
Arnaldo Antunes , is a writer and composer from Brazil. He began as a member of the band Aguilar e Banda Performática in the late 1970s. For most of the 1980s he was a member of the rock band Titãs. After 1992 he had six solo albums. Since 1992 he has been an award winning poet, but he was first...
, Bete Coelho, Chico Buarque
Chico Buarque
Francisco Buarque de Hollanda , popularly known as Chico Buarque , is a singer, guitarist, composer, dramatist, writer and poet...
, Juca de Oliveira, Maria Bethânia
Maria Bethânia
Maria Bethânia Vianna Telles Veloso , better known as Maria Bethânia , is a singer and sister of Caetano Veloso. She started her career in Rio de Janeiro in 1964 with the show "Opinião"...
, Paulo José
Paulo José
Paulo José Gómez de Sousa is a Brazilian television and film actor, director and narrator.-TV work:*2009 - Caminho das Índias - Profeta Gentileza*2006 - JK*2004 - O Pequeno Alquimista...
and Zélia Duncan
Zélia Duncan
Zélia Duncan , born Zélia Cristina Gonçalves Moreira, is a Brazilian singer and composer.-Biography:Zélia was born in Niterói, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. She moved with her family to Brasília, where she lived for 16 years...
among others.
Timeline
On a large panel, the remote Indo-EuropeanProto-Indo-European language
The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...
origins of languages are shown. The history and evolution of Portuguese is traced from Etruscan
Etruscan language
The Etruscan language was spoken and written by the Etruscan civilization, in what is present-day Italy, in the ancient region of Etruria and in parts of Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna...
through Classical Latin
Classical Latin
Classical Latin in simplest terms is the socio-linguistic register of the Latin language regarded by the enfranchised and empowered populations of the late Roman republic and the Roman empire as good Latin. Most writers during this time made use of it...
, Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin is any of the nonstandard forms of Latin from which the Romance languages developed. Because of its nonstandard nature, it had no official orthography. All written works used Classical Latin, with very few exceptions...
and old Romance languages
Romance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
to the three elements that make up the heart of contemporary Portuguese: Lusitanian Portuguese, languages indigenous to Brazil and African languages
African languages
There are over 2100 and by some counts over 3000 languages spoken natively in Africa in several major language families:*Afro-Asiatic spread throughout the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Sahel...
. The panel covers six thousand years of human history and is the product of research by professor Ataliba de Castilho.
A selection of 120 large works of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian literature complement the exhibition of the history of the language.
Temporary exhibitions
See also
- MuseumMuseumA museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
- Portuguese languagePortuguese languagePortuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
- Lusophony GamesLusophony GamesThe Lusophony Games is a multinational multi-sport event organized by the ACOLOP, which involves athletes coming from Lusophone countries, namely those belonging to the CPLP , but also others where there are significant Portuguese communities or that have a common past with Portugal.Participating...
- Afrikaans Language MonumentAfrikaans Language MonumentThe Afrikaans Language Monument is located on a hill overlooking Paarl, Western Cape Province, South Africa. Officially opened on 10 October 1975, it commemorates the semicentenary of Afrikaans being declared an official language of South Africa separate from Dutch...
- Estação da Luz
- Instituto CamõesInstituto CamõesThe Instituto Camões is an institution created in 1992 for the world-wide promotion of the Portuguese language and culture...