Portuguese Language Blog

For all of you in New York and in the U.S. Northeast, be sure to check out the exhibit sponsored by the Sociedade da Língua Portuguesa da Organização das Nações Unidas (UNSRC), known in English as the UN Portuguese Language Society.

The UNSRC will host an exhibit featuring one hundred pieces by eight indigenous artists from the Amazon. The artists come from a variety of tribes, including the Tukano, Wanano and Kokoma tribes. Check out some of the pieces here.

The exhibition will take place from October 26 through November 6th at the UN, located at 2 United Nations Plaza in Manhattan.

Today, we’re going to do a listening comprehension activity with a great thirteen minute documentary on graffiti art in São Paulo. Watch the video clicking the link above (which has subtitles) and then take a look at the questions to see how well you picked up on vocabulary in the video.

Photo: Alexandre Orion (artist featured in the documentary)

Questions:

1. What’s the word for “flashlight” in Portuguese?

2.  How does the artist say “I could go on forever” in Portuguese?

3.  There’s a shot of a graffiti painting with the message “Please don’t throw trash.” How is it written in Portuguese?

4. What’s the difference between the Portuguese words for “tunnel” and “tunnels?”

5. What’s the Portuguese word for “skull?”

Two Carioca brothers, Tiago and Gabriel Primo, designed an interactive installation exhibit in Rio de Janeiro’s historic downtown. They built a small room on the side of a painted wall 33 feet above the ground, including a bed, table, chair, and hammock.

The artists spend twelve hours a day in the room, eating, reading and sleeping, as well as chatting with and entertaining passersby. The wall also doubles as a climbing wall, and the two artists use climbing equipment when they are on the wall.

The exhibit is adjacent to an art gallery that features outdoor exhibits four times a year.

Check out this video of the wacky exhibition!