Portuguese Language Museum is reopened in São Paulo, with support from EDP | EDP Brasil

Closed since 2015, when it was hit by a major fire, the Museum of the Portuguese Language (MLP) has been reopened this Saturday (31), in a ceremonyattended by João Doria, governor of São Paulo; Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of the Republic of Portugal; Jorge Fonseca, president of Cape Verde; and João Marques da Cruz, CEO of EDP in Brazil.EDP is the main sponsor of the work, with an investment of R$ 20 million, almost 25% of the total cost.

One of the first museums entirely dedicated to a language, the MLP is located in the city with the highest number of Portuguese speakers in the world, São Paulo, in the historic Estação da Luz. For the reopening, its structure was completely restored. In addition to the content of the exhibitions, which was revised and expanded, the building will have a new terrace, overlooking Jardim da Luz and Torre do Relógio, and reinforcement of fire prevention measures.

“As the largest Portuguese investor in Brazil over the past 25 years, when we embraced this initiative in 2016, we had no doubts about its deep alignment with our commitments in the field of ESG. Today, five years later, EDP is proud to see the return to the society of what is one of the most important cultural icons of the country and world heritage of different peoples united by the historical, cultural and affective ties of our language – Portuguese”, says João Marques da Cruz.

Renewed content

Among the new installations at the Museum of the Portuguese Language are “Línguas do Mundo” [World Languages], which highlights 23 of the more than 7,000 languages spoken on the planet; “Falares” [Sayings], which brings the different accents and expressions of the language in Brazil; and “Nós da Língua Portuguesa” [We of the Portuguese language], which presents the Portuguese language in the world, with its ties, embarrassments and the cultural diversity of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP in Portuguese).

Consecrated experiences remain in the collection, such as the installation “Palavras Cruzadas” [Crosswords], which shows the languages that influenced the Portuguese spoken in Brazil; and the “Language Square”, a kind of 'language planetarium' that pays homage to the written, spoken and sung Portuguese language, in an immersive show of sound and light.

Curated by Isa Grinspum Ferraz and Hugo Barreto, the content was developed with the collaboration of writers, linguists, researchers, artists, filmmakers, screenwriters and graphic artists, among other professionals from several Portuguese-speaking countries. These are names like the musician José Miguel Wisnik, writers José Eduardo Agualusa, Mia Couto, Marcelino Freire and Antônio Risério, slammer Roberta Estrela d’Alva and documentarist Carlos Nader.

The Museum’s reopening temporary exhibition, “Língua Solta” [Loose tongue], presents the language in its broad and diverse developments in art and everyday life. Curated by Fabiana Moraes and Moacir dos Anjos, the show connects art to politics, life in society, everyday practices, forms of protest and religion, in objects always anchored in the use of the Portuguese language. The Museum was also designed with physical and content accessibility resources.

The reconstruction of the Portuguese Language Museum is an undertaking by the Ministry of Tourism and the Government of São Paulo, conceived and implemented by the Roberto Marinho Foundation. Its master sponsor is EDP, and sponsors are Grupo Globo, Grupo Itaú Unibanco and Sabesp, all through the Federal Law of Incentive to Culture.

EDP and the preservation of culture

In addition to the Portuguese Language Museum, since 2019, EDP has sponsored the restoration of the Ipiranga Museum, built in honor of Brazil's independence. The investment of R$ 12 million is made through the support of the Federal Law for Incentive to Culture, in a contract with the University of São Paulo (USP). EDP was the first company from the private sector to announce its support for the renovation of this historic monument.

In July of that year, EDP also joined the initiative Resgatando a História [Recovering history], from the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES). The project’s objective is to restore and revitalize material, immaterial and memorial assets from across the country. EDP has taken an initial commitment to invest R$ 10 million over the next four years.

About EDP in Brazil

With over 20 years of experience, EDP is one of the largest private companies in the electricity sector operating throughout the value chain. The Company, which has over 10 thousand direct and outsourced employees, has six hydroelectric and one thermoelectric power plants, in addition to operating in Transmission, Marketing and Energy Services. In the Distribution, it serves approximately 3.5 million customers in São Paulo and Espírito Santo, in addition to being the main shareholder of Celesc, in Santa Catarina. In 2020, the company was elected as the most innovative in the electricity sector by the Valor Inovação ranking, of the Valor Econômico newspaper, and is a reference in Governance and Sustainability, having been on the B3 Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE) for 15 consecutive years. Follow EDP at: Site | LinkedIn