Culture of Portugal
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The culture of Portugal is rooted in the Latin culture of Ancient Rome, with a Celtiberian background (a mixture of pre-Roman Celts and Iberian).
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[edit] Architecture
Since the 2nd millennium BC, there has been important construction in the area where Portugal is situated today. Built before the arrival of the Romans, Citânia de Briteiros in Guimarães is a good example of native architecture. The houses were round, built from granite without mortar. They were built in settlements (castros) in the mountains, and were surrounded by protective walls.
Portuguese architecture developed significantly with the arrival of the Romans (in the 2nd century BC), and evolved more closely towards other architecture around the Mediterranean. The Romans built aqueducts, bridges and roads, along with theatres, temples, circuses and other public buildings. There are particular ruins of buildings made by the Romans, called Centum Cellas whose purpose has yet to be discovered.
The Moors built castles, temples and white-washed houses.
The 1755 Lisbon earthquake and the subsequent tsunami and fires destroyed many buildings in Lisbon. Joseph I of Portugal and his Prime Minister Sebastião de Melo, Marquis of Pombal hired architects and engineers to rebuild the damaged portions of Lisbon, including the Pombaline Downtown.
[edit] Modern Architecture
One of the top architecture schools in the world, known as "Escola do Porto" or School of Porto, is located in Portugal. Its alumni include Alvaro Siza (winner of a Pritzker prize), Soutinho and Eduardo Souto de Moura.
[edit] Dances
Portugal has the traditional folklore (Ranchos Folclóricos), with many varieties from each region.
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[edit] Cinema
Portugal’s cinematographic repertoire is indeed quantitatively small (in the 1990’s around 10 fullength fictional works were produced each year) and its filmmakers are not organised along industrial lines, but rather practise a very special kind of artisanal craft. The hundred or so films made during the course of the last decade were directed by nearly sixty different people – something which says nothing but good about the country’s cinematographic panorama. Most filmmakers are not able to make more than one film a decade and the exceptions can almost be counted on the fingers of one hand.
When it comes to financing, Portuguese cinema survives solely thanks to the massive presence of state grants and the input of television stations. The internal market is very small and Portuguese penetration of international markets is fairly precarious, thus making it impossible to earn a reasonable return on investment. A film is considered success when it draws an audience of more than 150,000 and very few Portuguese films manage to do so. And yet Portuguese cinematography possesses something very special. The filmgoers who frequent the main European film festivals have become used to regularly seeing Portuguese films of a constancy and quality that make Portugal one of the most interesting melting-pots of director-controlled cinema.
The great master of the Portuguese cinema is Manoel de Oliveira, an amazing example of vitality and talent. He made his first film when the movies were silent. At the age of ninety three, Oliveira remains active and continues to create at an impressive rate. Since 1990 he has made an average of one film per year, directed major international stars that have succumbed to the lure of his talent, received the most varied awards and won the respect of the cinematography community all over the world.
Manoel de Oliveira is respected throughout Europe as the father of Portuguese cinema. His long, illustrious career, and particularly his steadfast refusal to compromise his art in any way, inspired a whole new generation of Portuguese directors. In Europe, Oliveira is revered as a cultural treasure, and the introduction to North American audiences provide by this retrospective is long overdue.
His fame extends to the United States, where the retrospectives of his works have been shown at the Los Angles Film Festival (1992), the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC (1993), the San Francisco Film Festival and the Cleveland Museum of Art (1994). On top of all this, his films have begun to be successful at the box office too.
In one of the great ironies of international cinema, the films of Oliveira and other Portuguese directors have been ignored by popular audiences within Portugal itself. However, since the 1974 revolution, the central government and other organizations have supported film production as a cultural imperative. As a result, Portuguese directors have largely remained free from commercial pressures and have been able to chase their own interests. Another of the major figures of Portuguese cinema is João César Monteiro. A member of the generation which founded the so-called “New Portuguese Cinema” in the 1960’s, it was only from the mid 1970’s that his work achieved its full expression. He was one of the most original European directors, made extremely provocative films in which the base meets the sublime. The key landmarks of his work in the 1990’s include “ O Último Mergulho”(1992), “ A Comédia de Deus” (1995), “Le Bassin de John Wayne” (1997) and “As Bodas de Deus” (1998). “A Comédia de Deus” won the Jury’s Special Prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1995.
Amongst the younger generation, it is only fair to single out Teresa Villa Verde. Having begun her career with an ephemeral passage before Cesar Monteiro’s cameras (À Flor do Mar, 1986), in the 1990’s she surfaced as a director. Her films are full of duffering and tend to be stories about adolescent characters that came into various kinds of conflicts with society around them. One of her films (Três Irmãos, 1994) was to win Maria de Medeiros (a very famous actress in Portugal) the best actress award at the Venice Film Festival.
→Portuguese comedies A Canção de Lisboa: (lit. Lisbon Song) is a Portuguese film comedy from 1933, directed by José Cottinelli Telmo, and starring Vasco Santana and Beatriz Costa. Manoel de Oliveira had a minor role in this film. It was the second Portuguese sound feature film (the first was A Severa, a 1931 documentary by Manoel de Oliveira, was originally filmed without soundtrack, which was added afterwards), and still is one of the best loved films in Portugal. Several of its lines and songs are still quoted today!
O Pai Tirano: (lit. The Tyrant Father) is a Portuguese film comedy from 1941, directed by António Lopes Ribeiro, starring Vasco Santana, Francisco Ribeiro and Leonor Maia. It’s one of the best known comedies of the Golden Age of Portuguese Cinema. Still popular six decades after its release. A whole slice of aspiring working class, aspiring to the urban low – middle class and respectable, a farce within a farce to have you laughing out loud.
Pátio das Cantigas: (lit. The Courtyard of Songs) A comedy/ musical from 1942 directed by Francisco Ribeiro, with Vasco Santana (as Narciso), António Silva (as Evaristo), Francisco Ribeiro (as Rufino) and others. It’s a portrait of the relations between neighbours in a Lisbon courtyard. A story made of small episodes of humor, friendship, rivalry and love. This one of the most hilarious films ever made in Portugal. It’s full of those little jokes that everybody remembers, even today! The actors transformed this rather simple story into a masterpiece! This movie must be seen.
→Recent films O Crime do Padre Amaro: (lit. The Crime of Father Amaro) it’s a Portuguese film (2005) adapted from a book of Eça de Queiroz, directed by Carlos Coelho da Silva. This was a low quality production sponsored by SIC (television Channel). Even so this film beat all the records of box- office of all the Portuguese films in Portugal. The main characters are Jorge Corrula as Padre Amaro and Soraia Chaves as Amélia, and the main ingredients of this film are the sex and the nudity.
Zona J:is a Portuguese drama/ romance film directed by Leonel Vieira in 1998, starring Sílvia Alberto as Fátima, Ana Bustorff as Conceição.
Sorte Nula: (lit. The Trunk) directed by Fernando Fragata, starring Helder Mendes, António Feio, Adelaide de Sousa, Rui Unas, Isabel Figueira, Bruno Nogueira, Carla Matadinho, Tânia Miller and Zé Pedro. Some people say that it wasn’t a good film and others affirm that was the best Portuguese film. The opinions about this film differ a lot!!!
[edit] Literature
Throughout different schools, generations and mostly movements, Portuguese Literature evolved to what is now known as Contemporary Literature.
It is believed that Portuguese literature was born in the 12th century with the lyrical works by João Soares de Paiva and Paio Soares de Taveirós. Their works came mostly from Portuguese oral traditions usually known as “cantigas de amor e amigo” and “cantigas de escárnio e maldizer” which were sung by troubadours.
Fiction has its roots in chronicles and historiographic studies that were written after the 14th century by great chroniclers such as Fernão Lopes who wrote extended texts about Portuguese kings’ lives. In Theater one of the most known Portuguese names is Gil Vicente, whose works criticised faithfully the society of his time.
Portuguese Literature evolved with classical lyrical texts which remain as great marks in Portuguese history. (Os Lusíadas, by Luís de Camões is known overseas as the great masterpiece of Portuguese Literature). On Romanticism there is a lot to be said. Names such as: Antero de Quental, Almeida Garrett and Camilo Pessanha are important to that specific moment of Portuguese literature’s history.
Modernism is maybe the most well known literary movement in Portuguese. Fernando Pessoa is considered to be (just like Camões) one of the greatest Portuguese writers of all times. Even though Portugal is known as a “country of poets”, this country has a good portfolio of novel writers since Romanticism and Realism.
After the Carnation Revolution which brought freedom of speech to Portuguese people after several decades of repression, Portuguese Literature faced a new moment of writing which only Pessoa had reached before in this country.
Recently, a Portuguese writer was granted with the Nobel Prize for Literature which comes to show that Portuguese Literature is still appreciated all over the world.
[edit] Music
Portuguese musical traditions and contemporary popular music are highly diverse and dynamic. They reflect multifarious historical, cultural, and political processes to which they also contributed. Others resulted from the confluence of multiple cultural influences, including those that were the outcome of Portugal’s direct and prolonged contact with non-European cultures from both North and sub-Saharan Africa and Brazil.
In particular, the 1960s marked the beginning of a period of expansion and innovation on the Portuguese music that has continued up until the present day. Rock and jazz were introduced, political song developed, Lisbon fado and the Coimbra style of singing were revitalized, Portuguese styles of pop and rock evolved, music from the former African colonies and Brazil occupied an increasingly important place in the capital’s musical life and local styles of rap and hip hop emerged.
Polyphonic music, employing multiple vocal parts in harmony, was developed in the 15th century. The Renaissance fostered a rich output of compositions for solo instruments and ensembles as well as for the voice. The modern revival of academic music in Portugal was primarily work of Luís de Freitas Branco, whose has been perpetuated by Joly Braga Santos. Composers like António Victorino d'Almeida, Jorge Peixinho, Miguel Azguime, Pedro Amaral, and João Pedro Oliveira acquired prestige both at home and abroad. Orchestras of note include the Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa and the Gulbenkian Orchestra. Oporto has had its own symphony orchestra since 1962, when the Chamber Orchestra was set up by the Gulbenkian Foundation. Lisbon also has a metropolitan orchestra, and the National Theatre of São Carlos in Lisbon, which was built in the late 18th century, has its own orchestra and ballet company. Among notable pianists, Maria João Pires has won worldwide acclaim.
Cultural centres such as the Belém Cultural Centre and the Culturgest, both in Lisbon, have expanded opportunities for major concerts. Madredeus is among the most successful popular music groups. Singer Dulce Pontes is also widely admired, and Carlos Paredes is considered by many to be Portugal's finest guitarist. Folk music and dancing and the traditional fado remain the country's fundamental forms of musical expression.
→Fado A shawl, a guitar, a voice and heartfelt emotion. These are the ingredients of Fado, the celebrated form of world music that captures what it is to be Portuguese.
Inspiration for Fado can come from almost any source. Although there are predominance of themes like: destiny, deep-seated feelings, disappointments in love, the sense of sadness and longing for someone who has gone away, misfortune, the ups and downs of life, the sea, the life of sailors and fishermen, and last but not least “Saudade” (one of the main themes used in fado, that means a kind of longing).
Fado is probably the oldest urban folk music in the world and represents the heart of the Portuguese soul, and for that matter fado performance is not successful if an audience is not moved to tears.
History of Fado Listening to Fado is like visiting Lisbon, meeting the Portuguese people, those that once upon a time faced the unknown sea. This type of music that connected nobles, vagabonds and seafarers, is still nowadays a shared passion by all Portuguese.
By the early twentieth century, Fado had become a fixture in the everyday life of Lisbon’s working class. It was played for pleasure and also to relieve the pain of life. Fadistas, skilled singers that performed at the end of the day and long into the night. Fado was the earthly music of taverns, brothels and street corners mainly in Alfama, Mouraria, Bairro Alto and Madragoa. Fado reached its golden era in the first half of the 20th century, when the Portuguese dictatorship of Salazar (1926-1968) forced the fado performers to become professional and confined them to sing in the fado houses and the so called "revistas", a popular genre of "vaudeville". The main names of this period were: Alfredo Marceneiro, Amália Rodrigues, Maria Teresa de Noronha and Armandinho and Jaime Santos (guitar players).
Fado became popular thanks to the singer Maria Severa who lived in the first half of the 19th century and died at the age of 26. She made this type of song famous in aristocratic circles through her romance with the Count of Vimioso. Her life later became the subject of Portugal's first sound movie in 1931. To this day, female performers wear a black shawl in her memory and her life story has been the influence of several Fado songs, poems, novels, and plays. However, fado has been shaped by those who have sung it.
Fado can be performed by men or women, although the raw emotion of the female fadista is nearly always preferred. Dressed in black with a shawl draped over her shoulders, a fadista stands in front of the musicians and communicates through gesture and facial expressions. The hands move, but the body remains stationary. It’s a solemn and majestic performance.
Traditionally accompanied by the Portuguese guitar, there are many ways of singing the Fado. It can range from the faster Fado corrido of Mouraria, to the impromptu singing known as ‘desgarrada’, or the mournful music of the students of Coimbra. There is also a version that describes conquests, love affairs and different life experience of each neighborhood, immortalized by the artist José Malhoa in his famous paintings of the Fado. And the well known Fado Vadio (Vagrant Fado), which is characterized by the place where it was born and sang for so long, the streets! Though it is an expression that is in risk of vanishing. It’s one of the most traditional forms of Fado, but nowadays fadistas cannot sing in the middle of the streets, it’s illegal. From the 1940’s until 1999 Fado was shown to the world through the voice of one amazing artist, Amália Rodrigues, the towering figure of Portuguese fado. Possessing a great stage presence and being a natural entertainer, she was worshipped and celebrated as the most famous representative of Portuguese culture. In the 20th century she made Fado known beyond Portugal, performing all over Europe, Japan, South America, and even in the United States, in New York's "La Vie en Rose" in the 1950s. When she died the country’s prime minister called for three days of national mourning, and as a national icon, she was buried in Lisbon's National Pantheon. Her former residence is now a museum that is well worth a visit. Amália has found a worthy successor in Mariza, who takes Fado to an even wider audience. Other very important names of Fado are Maria da Fé, Hermínia Silva, Argentina Santos and Carlos do Carmo. Nowadays in Portugal, the younger generation respects fado but isn’t dedicated to it. Contemporary fado musicians like Misia have introduced the music to performers such as Sting. Misia and fadistas like Cristina Branco and Mariza walk the fine line between carrying on the tradition and trying to bring in a new audience. Dulce Pontes, Camané, Mafalda Arnauth and Katia Guerreiro are other sonant artists that keep Fado alive, and brought with them a new look to the traditional song, occasionally reviving 19th century fado. The youngest world-traveling fadista of today and a top "New Generation of Fado" singer is Joana Amendoeira.
Fado cannot be explained, it must be felt and experienced. Once audiences are very knowledgeable and very demanding, the fadista must have the soul to transmit that feeling. The Grand Night of Fado is held every year in Lisbon and Oporto, and without a doubt it is the perfect place to enjoy a sample of this traditional music, it’s a very special evening that showcases the best new musical talents, an event that helps to launch careers and discover unique voices.
Where did it come from? The word Fado comes from the Latin fatum, which means fate or destiny. Actually the name couldn’t be better chosen. Fado, in a certain way, represents better than anything the spirit of the Portuguese people: the belief in destiny as something that overwhelms us and from which we can't escape, the domination of the soul and heart over reason, which leads to acts of passion and despair, and reveal such a black and beautiful sorrow. There are many theories about the origin of Fado. Therefore we are going to name a few:
1- Fado has its origin in Moorish songs; Moors kept living near Lisbon even after the Christian take-over. The melancholy of those songs and the referral in many lyrics to Mouraria in Lisbon would strengthen this theory.
2- Fado arrived to Portugal with the sailors returning from their long trips (1822), under the form of Lundum (the music of the Brazilian slaves). Lundum only after a while started modifying until it became the Fado. The first songs of the kind were related to the sea and with the lands far beyond them, where the slaves lived. This fact supports this theory, among one of Amália's songs, called "The Black Boat" which talks precisely of a senzala (place where the slaves were kept).
3- The melancholy character of Fado evolved from Portuguese seafarers who sang of home during their long absences at sea.
4- Fado was born in the Middle Ages. As cantigas de amigo (friend songs) are a good example of it. They were love songs dedicated to a woman and have great similarities with diverse subjects of the Fado of Lisbon. Those that were sung by the man to a woman seem to find kinship in the Fado of Coimbra, where the students intone their songs beneath the window of the loved one (serenades). Furthermore, there were satire songs or of disdain, that are still today frequent themes for Fado, in social and political critics.
Besides the lack of proofs about the origin of Fado, once in Portugal, it’s possible to affirm that Fado seems to have first appeared in Lisbon and Oporto, being later taken to Coimbra with the University students (having acquired different characteristics).
Coimbra’s Fado: There are two main varieties of fado, namely those of the cities of Lisbon and Coimbra. The Lisbon style is the most popular, while Coimbra's is the more refined style. Some of their characteristics are that in Lisbon it is always sung by a solo performer on the contrary, in Coimbra it is often performed by groups of male university students. Both are accompanied by two guitarists, one playing the melody on a twelve-stringed Portuguese guitar and the other supplying the rhythm on the six-stringed viola. In Coimbra we find the usual Fado’s sad style, but with different motivations and also based in the medieval songs called trovas. The ex-libris of Coimbra are its students, that arriving from Lisbon and Oporto, took their guitars and the new playing style was adopted. It was used to impress their loved ones they would sing all night long about their anguish for not having them, putting in their hands a heart full of sorrows that only them could relive. Moreover to explain the dissatisfaction of leaving behind the best years of the youth, the student bohemian life. And so it became the official music for the goodbye songs of each year, and for the students. Nowadays their performances constitute a basic ingredient in the city’s annual academic rituals, they are called Tunas. Those are groups of students that sing with their academicals and their heavy cape on, to do serenades or honor their Faculty. There are Tunas in almost every Portuguese University nowadays, there are many competitions between them, but only in Coimbra does the serenade tradition remain. One of the celebrations made in Coimbra to mark the beginning of a new academic year is the Monumental Serenata (monumental serenade), when serenades are sung outside the entrance to the city’s old cathedral. But for some Coimbra students, Fado is not just for days of youth. Adriano Correia de Oliveira and José Afonso both became famous singers, while Artur Paredes and Carlos Paredes became well-known guitarists.
"Coimbra is more enchanting when it’s time to bid farewell." This is the most famous line from this city’s Fado. It sums up the romantic spirit of the university students who sing it.
Fado Houses: The best place to enjoy an evening of Fado is for sure a Fado House. A candlelit dinner, accompanied by songs you’ll understand without even speaking the language, is an experience that you simply have to live. Combined with the Fado Museum where its evolution is explained and the passion behind the country's famous musical expression with audiovisual presentations, wax figures, multilingual information panels, and musical archives. It presents the cultural and social impact of Fado, from its use in cinema through the impact of censorship in the 20th century.
Nevertheless... Please note that despite Fado being a symbol of the Portuguese nationality, it is, by no means, the national song. From region to region, Portugal possesses several rich and typical folklores of each geographical area that have nothing to do with Fado. Perhaps we can, if you want, to say that this will be the form of folklore of Lisbon, Oporto and Coimbra. However, it is appreciated and recognized in all the Portuguese country as a symbol. This is the spirit of fado, the expression of a collective soul, made of each one's soul.
→Popular music: The 1980s and 1990s were marked by the search for a new musical discourse in urban popular music, the increase, commodification and industrialization of musical production, and the mediatization and expansion of music consumption. The boom in Portuguese musical production was accompanied by both the diversification of the musical domains and styles produced and consumed in Portugal and the emergence of new styles which are increasingly taking the global market into account. The denominated Pop music uses melodies easily to memorize, becoming very popular and commercial; it’s also characterized by the amount of publicity made (through videos, magazines, appealing clothing, etc). It is possible to note two stylistic tendencies in the popular music of the 1980s and 1990s:
- A musical discourse created by Portuguese musicians that is integrated within the major international developments experienced by commercial popular music;
- A new musical style that vindicates its Portugueseness by both drawing upon various musical elements which musicians and audiences alike identify as Portuguese and emphasizing the Portuguese language.
→Folk: Folk music is the joint of the traditional songs of a community that express through a poetic character their beliefs and tell their history to other people and generations. The danças do vira (Minho), Pauliteiros de Miranda (Miranda), Corridinho do Algarve or Bailinho (Madeira), are some examples of dances created by the sound of folk. Some of the typical instruments used are a little guitar, bagpipes, accordion, violin, drums, Portuguese guitar and an enormous variety of wind and percussion instruments.
→Philharmonic band: In the popular culture the philharmonic bands represent each locality and play different types of music, from popular to classical. Lidia Costa, Carlos Marques, Alberto Madurai, José Caminos and Railcar Morays are some of the most important names in philharmonic music.
→Political Songs: Political songs (canções de intervenção) played an important part in the protests against the totalitarian regime that ruled Portugal from 1926 up to the 1974 revolution. Once it was created as an object to criticize what was wrong, mainly in a political point of view. One of its main protagonists was José (Zeca) Afonso (1929-1987) but others also contributed to its development, for example Adriano Correia de Oliveira, José Mário Branco, Luís Cilia, Francisco Fanhais, José Jorge Letria, José Barata Moura and Sérgio Godinho. They traced a new course for urban popular music and influenced a further generation of musicians, some of whom also participated in the protest movement and are still active, including Fausto, Vitorino, Janita Salomé and Júlio Pereira, among others. This musical style reflects a confluence of influences from traditional music, French urban popular songs of the 1960s, African music and Brazilian popular music. By the late 1970s the revolutionary climate had subsided and the need to express political militancy through song was no longer felt by poets, composers and singers, who subsequently redefined both their role and their creative contribution.
→Classical Music: In Classical music the greater references that Portugal has are the piano players Artur Pizarro, Maria João Pires e Sequeira Costa, and the composers: Fernando Lopes-Graça, Emmanuel Nunes, Jorge Peixinho, Constança Capdeville, Clotilde Rosa, Fernando Corrêa de Oliveira, Cláudio Carneyro, Frederico de Freitas, Joly Braga Santos and Isabel Soveral.
→Hip hop: Out of the American movies from the 80’s the hip hop invaded Portugal and has established itself on the streets of Lisbon and Oporto. Areas like Chelas, Amadora, Cacém and the South Bank of the Tagus are considered the cradle of the Portuguese Hip Hop (Hip Hop Tuga). From America the hip hop brought the street wear fashion, now used in Portugal by younger people, and the four basic hip hop elements: MC’ing, DJ’ing, break-dance and graffiti. It was with the album called “Rapublica” released in 1994 from the band Black Company, that hip hop officially established itself on Portugal, and you could see that it was here to stay. The refrain from a song called “Não sabe nadar, yo” (“Cant swim, yo!”) was on the mouths of everyone, even the president of Portugal, Mario Soares, used it on a speech about the cave painting in Foz Côa saying that “As gravuras não sabem nadar, yo!” (“The paintings can’t swim, yo!”). Nowadays there is a division in the Portuguese hip hop movement, from one side we got the pure or the underground as it is called, on the other side we got the one that is fabricated, so to speak, that you get on the gymnasium or MTV. But the real Hip Hop resides in the heart and soul of those who feel it as a life philosophy and not an “USA made trend”.
→Summer musical festivals: We couldn’t write about Portuguese music, without referring the summer festivals. Every year there are several music festivals all over the country, but in summer each day is a different one. There we can find Portuguese musicians and not only, because musicians from other countries are often invited to play here. They occur all summer and it’s almost impossible to go to all of them, but their quality is growing every year. People camp in the enclosed space and can spend a wonderful summer, knowing Portugal better and at the same time listening to their favorite bands. Here are some examples of those festivals: Vilar de Mouros, Sudoeste, Rock in Rio, Super Bock Super Rock, Paredes de Coura, Ilha do Ermal, etc.
→Portuguese A to Z musicians: We think that musicians cannot be classified only as delegates of one type of music, once they evolve and so their music. Therefore we are going to name a few well known Portuguese bands and solo singers in alphabetic order, once it is probably the most correct way of doing it. And here they are:
A: Adiafa; Ala Dos Namorados; Almaplana; ALMMA; Amália Rodrigues; Ana Laíns; Ana Marina; Ana Moura; André Sardet; António Variações; António Zambujo; Arco da Velha; Ary dos Santos; Armenio de Melo.
B: Balada do Atlantico; Banda D'Alem; Bicho de 7 Cabeças; Blasted Mechanism; Blind Zero; Boss AC; Brigada Victor Jara.
C: Carlos Do Carmo; Carlos Paião; Carlos Paredes; Carmen Souza; Ciganos D'Ouro; Clã; Cool Hipnoise; Corvos; Cristina Branco; Custodio Castelo.
D: Da Weasel; Dapunksportif; David Fonseca; Dazkarieh; Delfins; Doce; Donna Maria; Duarte; Dulce Pontes; D’zrt.
E: Easyway; Ena pa 2000; Expensive Soul; Ez Special.
F: Fadomorse; Faithfull; Fernando Tordo; Fingertips; Fonzie.
G: Gaiteiros de Lisboa; GNR; Gomo; Grupo Canção de Coimbra.
H: Hands on Approuch; Helder Moutinho; Heróis do Mar; Hyubris.
J: Joana Amendoeira; João Gentil; João Pedro Pais; Jorge Fernando; Jorge Palma; José Afonso; José Cid;
K: Kafka; Katia Guerreiro; Kussondulola.
L: Lena de Água; Linda Martini; Luís Represas; Lula Pena; Lura.
M: Madredeus; Mafalda Arnauth; Mafalda Veiga; Mandrágora; Mão Morta; Marco Paulo; Marenostrum; Maria Amelia Proença; Mariza; Mata Ratos; Mediterrânic Ensemble; Melian; Mercado Negro; Mesa; Mind da Gap; Mísia; Mler Ife Dada; Moçoilas; Modas à Margem do Tempo; MonteCara; Moonspell.
N: Nem Truz Nem Muz; Nuno Guerreiro.
O: Olivetree; Ornatos Violeta.
P: Paco Bandeira; Patrícia Candoso; Paulo Gonzo; Pedro Abrunhosa; Pedro Jóia; Peste & Sida; Pluto; Pólo Norte; Pop Dell´Arte; Primitive Reason.
Q: Quarteto 1111; Quim Barreiros; Quinta do Bill.
R: Rádio Macau; RAMP; Rao Kyao; Realejo; Resistência; Ricardo Rocha; Riding Pânico; Rio Grande; Rita Guerra; Ritual Tejo; Roda Pé; Ronda dos Quatro Caminhos; Rui Veloso.
S: Santos e Pecadores; Sam the Kid; Samuel Jerónimo; Sara Tavares; Sebenta; Sérgio Godinho; Sétima Legião; Sheiks; Silence Four; Sonia Oliveira; Souls of Fire; Supernada; Susana Felix.
T: Tantra; Táxi; Teresa Salgueiro; Terrakota; The Gift; The Legendary Tiger Man; The Vicious Five; Toque de Caixa; Toranja; Trabalhadores do Comércio; Tres Tristes Tigres; Trovante.
U: UHF.
V: Victorino d'Almeida; Vozes da Rádio.
X: Xutos e Pontapés X-Wife
Y: You Should go ahead Yellow W Van
[edit] Painting
Portuguese art was very restricted in the early years of nationality, during the reconquista, to a few paintings in churches, convents and palaces.
It was after the 15th century, with the national borders established and with the discoveries, that Portuguese art expanded. Some kings, like John I already had royal painters. It is during this century that Gothic art was replaced by a more humanistic and Italian-like art.
During the reign of King Alfonso V, an important Portuguese artist Nuno Gonçalves shaped Portuguese art, leading it to gain local characteristics (Escola Nacional, National School). His influence on Portuguese art continued after his death. He was the royal painter for the famous Retábulo do Altar das Relíquias de São Vicente in the Cathedral of Lisbon (Sé de Lisboa). The painting caught fire and was replaced by a Baroque structure. Parts of his work still exist and can be found in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga National (Museum of Ancient Art).
During the Golden Age of Portugal, in the late 15th century and early 16th century, Portuguese artists were influenced by Flemish art, and were in turn influential on Flemish artists of the same period. During this period, Portuguese art became internationally well-known, mostly because of its very original and diverse characteristics, but little is known about the artists of this time due to the medieval culture that considered painters to be artisans. The anonymous artists in the Portuguese "escolas" produced art not only for metropolitan Portugal but also for its colonies, namely Malacca or Goa and even Africa, gratifying the desires of local aristrocatic clients and religious clients. In the 19th century naturalist and realist painters like Columbano, Henrique Pousão and Silva Porto revitalized painting against a decadent academic art. In the early 20th century Portuguese art increased both in quality and quantity, mainly due to members of the Modernist movement like Amadeo de Souza Cardoso and Almada Negreiros. In the post-war years the abstractionist painter Vieira da Silva settled in Paris and gained widespread recognition, as did his contemporary Paula Rego.
[edit] Theatre
Portugal never developed a great Dramatic theatre tradition due primarily to the fact that the Portuguese were more passionate about lyric or humorous works than dramatic art. Gil Vicente is often seen has the father of Portuguese theatre - he was the leading Portuguese playwright in the 16th century. During the 20th century, theatre found a way to reach out to the people, specially the middle class, through what in Portugal is known as "Revista" - a form of humorous and cartoonish theatre designed to expose and criticize social (and political) issues, but in a way that entertains and amuses the audience.
[edit] Food
Each region of Portugal has its traditional dishes, including various kinds of meat, seafood, fresh fish (including 1001 ways of making cod dishes, the national dish; and grilled sardines) and the famous "Cozido à Portuguesa".
[edit] Wines
Portugal is the country for wine lovers, known since the Roman Empire; the Romans immediately associated Portugal with its God of Wine and Feasts, Bacchus. Today, many Portuguese wines are known as some of the world's best: Vinho do Douro, Vinho do Alentejo, Vinho do Dão, Vinho Verde, and the sweet: Port Wine (Vinho do Porto, literally Porto's wine), Madeira wine, Moscatel of Setúbal and Moscatel of Favaios.
[edit] Festivals and holidays
During the summer, in the month of June, festivities dedicated to three saints known as Santos Populares take place all over Portugal. Why the populace associated the saints to these pagan festivities is not known. But they are possibly related to Roman or local deities from the time before Christianity spread in the region. The three saints are Saint Anthony, Saint John and Saint Peter. Common fare in these festivities are wine, água-pé (mostly grape juice), and traditional bread along with sardines. During the festivities are many weddings, traditional street dances and fireworks.
Saint Anthony is celebrated on the night of 12th-13th of June, especially in Lisbon (where that saint was born and lived most of his life), with Marchas Populares (a street carnival) and other festivities. In the meantime, several marriages known as Casamentos de Santo António (Marriages of Saint Anthony) are made. But the most popular saint is Saint John, he is celebrated in many cities and towns throughout the country on the night of the 23rd-24th, especially in Porto and Braga, where the sardines, Caldo Verde (traditional soup) and plastic hammers to hammer in another person's head for luck are indispensable. The final saint is Saint Peter, celebrated in the night of 28th-29th, especially in Póvoa de Varzim and Barcelos, the festivities are similar to the others, but more dedicated to the sea and with an extensive use of fire (fogueiras). In Póvoa de Varzim, there is the Rusgas in the night, another sort of street carnival. Each festivity is a municipal holiday in the cities and towns where it occurs.
Carnival is also widely celebrated in Portugal, some traditional carnivals date back several centuries. Loulé, Alcobaça, Mealhada and above all Ovar hold several days of festivities, with parades where social and political criticism abound, music, dancing in an environment of euphorya. On January 6, Epiphany is celebrated by some families, especially in the North, where the family gathers to eat "Bolo-Rei" (literally, King Cake, a cake made with crystallized fruits); this is also the time for the traditional street songs - "As Janeiras" (The January ones). Saint Martin Day, is celebrated on November 11. This day is the peak of three days, often with very good weather, it is known as Verão de São Martinho ("Saint Martin summer"), the Portuguese celebrate it with jerupiga (a sweet liqueur wine) and roasted Portuguese chestnuts (castanhas assadas), and it is called Magusto.
- National Holidays
| Date | Name | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| January 1 | Ano Novo | New Year's Day. Beginning of the year, marks the traditional end of "holiday season". |
| Tuesday, date varies | Carnaval | Carnival. (Also called Mardi Gras). Not an official holiday, but declared by the government as a non-working day. Very ancient festival celebrating the end of the winter. It gained Christian connotations, and now marks the first day of a period of 40 days before Easter Week (Semana Santa, Holy Week), thus also known as Entrudo. |
| Friday, date varies | Sexta-Feira Santa | Good Friday. |
| Sunday, date varies | Páscoa | Easter. Used for family gathering to eat Pão-de-Ló (an Easter cake) and Easter eggs. In the North, a sort of church members processions (compasso) visits and blesses every home with an open door, thus meaning they are Catholics. Traditionally, this is the second visit of children and non-married youngsters to their godparents, receiving an Easter gift. The first visit is on Palm Sunday, 7 days before, where children give flowers and palms to their godparents. |
| April 25 | Dia da Liberdade | Literally, "Freedom Day". Celebrates the Carnation Revolution, marking the end of the dictatorial regime. Event of 1974. |
| May 1 | Dia do Trabalhador | Labour Day. |
| Thursday, date varies | Corpo de Deus | Corpus Christi. Christian feast celebrating the Eucharist. |
| June 10 | Dia de Portugal | Portugal Day. Marks the date of Camões death. Camões wrote The Lusiad, Portugal's national epic. Event of 1580 Celebrated in many of Portuguese communities in the United States of America, such as the Ironbound in Newark, NJ |
| August 15 | Assunção | Assumption of Mary. |
| October 5 | Implantação da República | Implantation of the Republic, or Republic Day. Event of 1910. |
| November 1 | Todos os Santos | All Saints Day. Day used for visiting deceased relatives. |
| December 1 | Restauração da Independência | Restoration of Independence. Event of 1640. |
| December 8 | Imaculada Conceição | Immaculate Conception. Patron Saint of Portugal since 1646. |
| December 25 | Natal | Christmas Day. Celebrated in the 24th to the 25th as a family gathering to eat codfish with potatoes and cabbage, roasted kid and turkey; seasonal sweets and dry fruits; drink Port wine; and share gifts. |
Portuguese popular song:
- "Santo António já se acabou.
- O São Pedro está-se a acabar.
- São João, São João, São João,
- Dá cá o balão para eu brincar."
English Translation:
- "Saint Anthony has finished now.
- Saint Peter is finishing.
- Saint John, Saint John, Saint John,
- Give me the balloon, for me to play."
[edit] Sports and games
Football is the most popular and practised sport in Portugal. As of May 2006, the Portuguese national team was ranked 7th out of 205 countries by FIFA. The legendary Eusébio is still a symbol of Portuguese football. Luís Figo was voted 2001 Player of the Year by FIFA, after finishing 2nd in 2000. Rui Costa and Cristiano Ronaldo are also noteworthy and Vítor Baía is the player in history with most titles won, including all European club cups. Moreover, José Mourinho is regarded as one of the most successful and well-paid football managers in football's history. The main domestic football competition is the Superliga where the dominating teams are SL Benfica, FC Porto and Sporting CP. Portugal hosted and nearly won EURO 2004, getting defeated in the final by surprise winner Greece. The Portuguese national team also reached the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup twice, in 1966, when Eusebio was the top scorer, with 9 goals, and also in 2006. The year 2006 was the year that Portugal nearly won the FIFA World Cup tournament, ranking 4th overall after being defeated by France and Germany's football teams. This was the first time since 1966 that the Potuguese football team had advanced to a such a high qualifying round in a World Cup tournament. The team was welcomed back proudly from its country. Other than football, many other professional and well organized sport competitions take place every season in Portugal, including basketball, swimming, athletics, tennis, gymnastics, futsal, rink hockey, team handball, volleyball, and rugby championships among the hundreds of sports played in this country. Cycling, with Volta a Portugal being the most important race, is also popular. In rink hockey Portugal is the country with most world titles: 15 World Championships and 20 European Championships, and in rugby sevens the Portuguese team has won many international trophies, having as of July 2006 five European Championship titles. Golf is also worth mentioning, since its greatest players play in the sunny region of the Algarve during the "Algarve Open". The Autódromo Fernanda Pires da Silva in the Estoril, near Lisbon, is the main Portuguese race track where many motorsport competitions are held, including the World Motorcycling Championship and A1 Grand Prix. Rallying (with the Rally of Portugal and Rally Madeira) and off-road (with the Baja Portugal 1000 and recently Lisboa-Dakar) events also have international recognition. Triathlon is also giving important steps thanks to the world cup leader Vanessa Fernandes and martial arts like judo, which has brought many medals to Portugal.
The major Portuguese professional sports leagues and championships are:
- Portuguese Football Championship in football
- Portuguese Futsal First Division in futsal
- Portuguese Basketball League in basketball
- Portuguese Rink Hockey Championship in rink hockey
- Portuguese Handball League in handball
- Portuguese Volleyball League A1 in volleyball
The country has an ancient martial art known as "Jogo do Pau" (Portuguese Stick Fencing), used for self-protection and for duels between young men in disputes over young women. Having its origin in the Middle Ages, Jogo do Pau uses wooden staves as a combat weapon. Other sports are the "Jogos Populares", a wide variety of traditional sports played for fun.
[edit] Portuguese stereotypes
[edit] See also
- Portuguese people
- Bloodless Bullfighting Portuguese Style
