Living not at home

How do two multilingual people choose which language to use? If they both speak the same pair of languages, how do they choose which one to hold their conversation in? What are the social conventions? The choice of language may be based on the dominant language of the place: they use whichever language most other people around them are speaking.  It may be based on facility: their levels of proficiency in the two languages will be different. This means that one of them will have to speak in a language at which they are less adept than the other person. They use the language in which the gap between their respective levels is the smallest.  It may be based on precedence: they’ve always used only one of their two available languages. Their relationship exists in one language, but not in the other.  I live in Portugal and most of the people I speak with have Portuguese as a first language. When I begin talking, it’s obvious I’m not fluent in Portuguese: my accent is a bit of...

O MUSEU MORREU - é uma afirmação forte. Ainda mais quando é fixado na porta do museu. Esta afirmação, numa foto de 1974, é usada na publicidade da atual exposição temporária no Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis. Na foto, a afirmação tem uma segunda parte, prometendo renascer: VIVA UM MUSEU VIVO A exposição tem um título comprido: Exposição CAC – 50 anos: A Democratização Vivida . Começa num estilo vigoroso, com grandes fotografias a preto e branco ao lado da rampa da entrada. Estas fotografias foram tiradas no dia 10 de junho de 1974, quando um grupo de artistas e outros ativistas comemoraram o que diziam ser a morte do Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis. Nas fotografias vemos uma multidão (alguns sisudos e outros a sorrir), cartazes, roupas fúnebres, faixas, um carro funerário, um padre. Num cartaz está escrito: QUERO PODER LANCHAR E ALMOÇAR NO MUSEU UMAS TORRADINHAS E LEITE COM CHOCOLATE Esta manifestação pública e satírica levou, dois anos mais tarde, à criação do Centro de Arte Contempor...

THE MUSEUM IS DEAD - it’s a strong statement. Even more so when you nail it to a museum door.  This slogan, in a photo from 1974, is the i-dent for the current temporary exhibition at Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis. It’s click bait for anyone involved in institutional critique or cultural democracy. In the photo , the slogan has a second part, promising renewal: LONG LIVE A LIVING MUSEUM. The exhibition at Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis has a cumbersome title - Centre for Contemporary Art: 50 Years - Making Art Democratic - but it starts in a sprightly style with big, black and white photos beside the long entrance ramp. These were taken on 10th June 1974 when a group of artists, collaborative art groups and other activists commemorated what they claimed was the death of Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis. In the photos we see a crowd (some acting serious and some laughing), hand-painted placards, funeral clothes, banners, a hearse, a priest. One placard reads I WANT TO BE ALLOWED T...