A project by Maria Thereza Alves

Published by Lumiar Cité/Maumaus Artists-in-residence Programme

Graphic design by Arne Kaiser

Krenak/Portuguese

125 pp.,

12.00 x 17.00 cm
softcover

pub. date: 2010

It was at the end of 19th century that a German apothecary in Brazil, Bruno Rudolph, managed to fraternize with the survivors of the Krenak people, not only learning their language but also writing a unique Krenak-German/German-Krenak dictionary (Wörterbuch der Botokudensprache), surprisingly published in 1909 by a Hamburg publisher. Questions may be raised about who would buy it in the early 20th century in Germany (at that time still a colonial Empire), but today this book contains precious knowledge of the Krenak language, or rather this German book contains extensive Knowledge of a disappearing language.



After agreeing with the idea of translating into modern (Brazilian) Portuguese the German part of the Bruno Rudolph's 1909 dictionary, thus helping the Krenak to access part of their language, the Maumaus School in Lisbon received the original book in a digital form. We soon realized that amount of work necessary to translate the whole German part and also to reorganize the book as a Krenak-Portuguese/Portuguese-Krenak dictionary would only would feasible with the possibility of including this ambitious project in the programming of the Lumiar Cité space, through an exhibition by Maria Thereza Alves. (Jürgen Bock)



A project of Maria Thereza Alves for the exhibition On the Importance of Words, A Sacred Mountain (stolen), and the Morality of Nations at Lumiar Cité, Lisboa, 2009.

This Installation travelled to the São Paulo Biennale where the Dictionary was printed.