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What are the roots of your language?I ask a group of
students
waiting to enter the Museum of the Portuguese Language in So
Paulos Estao da Luz (Station of Light). Their friendly,
hesitant
responsesLatin? Portuguese! English, German?are a
choral validation of the essential nature of this new museum.
These
kids are from SENAC So Paulo, part of a national network of
vo-cational trade schools. The language they learn to read and
write
doesnt reflect the uniquely rich complexity of Brazilian
Portuguese.
How could they know their la nguage is 20 percent Arabic and
forged
by rich lineages of African Bantu and indigenous Tupi and
Guarani?
Brazilian schools neither reflect nor teach Brazil, says the
museums curator, the sociologist and award-winning documen-
tarian Isa Grinspum. Brazilians are ignorant of their own
history.
Hence this impressive mission: To show that our language is
fundamental, the founder of our culture. The museum will be
a
place of celebration and praise for the Portuguese languagea
dynamic space, playful, interactive, where Portuguese speakers
will
have a living identification with their mother tongue.
How to realize such an abstract idea? The concept originated
a
decade earlier within the Roberto Marihno Foundation, but its
real
genesis came in 2003 with two anthropologists, Roberto Pinho
and
Antonio Risrio, then working as advisers to minister of
culture
Gilberto Gil. Grinspum was brought in, she says, to help shape
thefoundation of what the museum would become. Soon after that,
world-renowned American exhibition director Ralph Appelbaum
and Brazilian artistic director Marcello Dantas joined the
team.
As we worked, we added linguistic experts, anthropologists,
writers, poets, and filmmakers, and were able to see a museum
with
a few basic objectives plotted along a few central axes,
Grinspum
remembers. A straightforward idea, perhaps, but based on a
tremen-
dous amount of sociological a nd linguistic research. We
strove
to valorize the Brazilian la nguage in all its complexity, she
says.Brazilian Portuguese is a mixed language spoken by a mixed
population; this idea ofmistura [mixture] was very important to
us.
The language is created every day by all Brazilians.
With no precedent or reference point, the process of
creating
the worlds first language museuma living museumwas
inventive by necessity. Meetings were as improvisational as
Brazilian
culture and as free-flowing as language itself, which allowed
for
extremely creative conversationsit was like playing jazz
together,
recalls Appelbaum. How does an American designer make a
museum
about a language he doesnt speak? Dantas explains: Ralph
guided
our thinking by challenging us with his questions. He has
the
wonderful ability to speak softly and make people reach
consensus.
According to Appelbaum, We were always searching for big
narrative ideasways to provide a contextual environment
where
Brazilian culture and language could play itself out. It was
critical
for us to know that what was revealed was not so much the
language,
but something about the virtues and values and character of
Brazilianpeople. He continues, Heres a nation that has been able to
find
extraordinary joy in sharing music, food, and traditions, and
ended
up with this mixture of cultures and races thats a model of
what
the real future could be like. I guess thats why, in the end,
this idea
ofmistura is really beautiful to me.
It helps that the space itself is so inclusive. The founders
chose
Estao da Luzonce one of So Paulos busiest train stations
for the museums home, as much for its accessibility as for its
symbol-
ic potential. Located in a rundown part of the city, this
fin-de-sicle landmark is a humble jewel that welcomes everyone.
For
less than the price of an afternoon snack at thepadaria
(bakery),
admission costs four Brazilian reais, about two American
dollars. To
Appelbaum, this is a democratic ideal in action: The admission
is
very low. It enables all kinds of people to enter.
Given that high-traffic, egalitarian quality, the museums
founders faced a special challenge: speaking to the widest
possible
audience without dumbing down the complexity of linguistic
facts.
As Grinspum points out, it was key to treat language in a way
that
was simple, not simplistic. After all, Appelbaum adds, One of
the
reasons for the museum is to make people feel good about
what
they do know. The museum, which formally opened on March 20,
2006, incorporates seven exhibitions (plus one rotating
exhibition),
executed in a wide variety of media and designed to evolve so
that it
will be, as Grinspum says, a live museum, not a mausoleum.
That mandate is clear even before reaching the official
exhibits.
After entering from the old train station (aptly, through
turnstiles),one ascends a glass elevator alongside Rafic Farahs
three-story
sculpture Tree of Words. From 6,000-year-old words at its roots
rises
Brazilian Portuguese, one of the worlds youngest languages.
On the first floor is the tempora
ed by Grande Serto: Veredas (B
installation by the director and art
the 1956 avant-garde novel of the
with giving legitimacy to Brazilia
physically deconstructed, the instinvites even reluctant readers
to en
of the books unique vocabulary a
One floor up, theres a long open
museums exhibits. Along the left
a video-projection screen that, at 1
longest. Eleven seamless and simu
filmseach with its own soundtr
with themed vignettes: dance, par
human relations, food, values, kno
The separate films unify to becom
An interactive map of Brazil, M
visitor to navigate audiovisually th
regional vernaculars. A timeline o
language runs almost the full leng
Previous spread, left: The view down
video wall. Previous spread, right: Cr
osks between the timeline and video wfrom left to right: Facade
of the Esta
Gallerys video wall showing Carnival,
museum-goers following the language
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everyone who enters is enveloped by th e spaces scale, scope,
anthe museum transforms visitors into collaborators.
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opposite the video installation; a tree diagrams the worlds
linguistic
families. The timeline, which begins at 4,000 B.C., compares
three
parallel lines of linguistic developmentAfrican, Portuguese,
and
Amerindianalongside significant historical artifacts.
Running down the middle of the hall are eight triangular,
inter-
active kiosks with a monitor on each side; they trace the
origins of
ordinary words likegaroto (Bantu for boy) and carioca (Tupi
for
an inhabitant of Rio de Janeiro). Two of these Crosswords
kiosks
are dedicated to African languages, two to indigenous
languages,
one to Spanish, one to English and French, one to immigrant
languages, and one to diasporic Portuguese.
Around the corner at the end of the long space is the Alley
of
Words, an alcove where word fragments are projected onto a
table-
top. With the help of motion sensors, visitors can form
wordsthinktactile etymology. In the auditorium, an expansive film
uses voice,
music, montage, and motion graphics to explore the evolution
of
language in a scholarly but accessible way: Imagine the
movieBaraka
high on linguistics.
Few of these exhibits are exactly as they were originally
conceived.
According to Dantas, Five were redesigned from scratch. In
many
ways, we tropicalized them; in many ways, we radically
changed
it. By embracing in the creative process what Dantas calls
Brazils
history of assimilation, absorption, and transformation, the
museum itself became that much more Brazilian.
Beyond its humanism, intellect
richness, the museum breaks new
The artful, richly immersive mult
for children, but everyone who en
scale, scope, and interactivity; the
visitors into collaborators. Its obje
dialogue and participation.
The museumprobably the b
history, says Dantasis already b
Appelbaum, a Peace Corps veteran
learned from Brazilians is that the
is a strategic developmental asset
that the smarter you are, the high
Indeed, many nations are realizingas well as social benefits.
From Bei
creating blueprints designed to m
most powerful latent asset: unde
undiscovered aspects of [its] cultu
There are practical strategies to
Appelbaum notes: If museums li
education, and tourism, our job is
money in the right wayfor exa
consumers he calls the knowledg
Embedded in his design ideology
This page: The temporary exhibition space, featuring Grande
Serto: Veredas (Big Wilderness: Paths) by Bia Lessa.
Theinstallation includes words that must be decoded and can only
be
read by climbing up on a wooden lookout platform.
Opposite page: Rafic Farahs Tree of Words sculpture climbs
three stories up a glass elevator shaft.
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ways for museums to become and remain self-sustainable.
Appelbaum proudly describes the museum today as a livelyplace
filled with voices and music, created either by the exhibits
themselves or by the peoples enthusiasm for sharing words.
The
Language Plazathe museums pice de rsistanceis a perfect
demonstration of this idea. Its a 13-meter-high verbal
planetarium
with projections on the ceiling and walls above a reflective
floor.
Groups of strangers of all ages sit transfixed in silent awe,
listening
to poems and song lyrics and concentrating on the
connections
between the familiar voices and abstract visual
interpretations.
Rarely have Brazilian audiences sat so still and focused for so
long.
As anyone who knows this country can tell you, Brazilians
take
raw material and turn it into magic. What if more people
were
able to wrap this improvisational force around a deeply
informed
understanding of their culture and language? The country may
at last be witnessing a long-awaited educational renaissance:
The
museum has had 300,000 visitors in its first six months, more
than
all other Brazilian museums annually. Throughout the world,
people are betting on Brazils future, and it looks as though
theMuseum of the Portuguese Language will light the way.
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Theauthor thanks thef ollowing peoplefor their generous
help:Ralph Appelbaum,Marcello Dantas, IsaGrinspum, Paulo Mendes
daRocha, Jarbas Montovanini,DileneOtto, andAna RosaSaraiva.
