Culture

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). Portugal has a rich traditional folklore (Ranchos Folcloricos), with great regional variety.

Art

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 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 Reliquias de Sao Vicente in the Cathedral of Lisbon (Sé de Lisboa). 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 aristocratic clients and religious clients.

In the 19th century, naturalist and realist painters like Columbano, Henrique Pousao 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

Cinema

In the 1990's, around 10 full length fictional works were produced per year. Financing of Portuguese cinema is by state grants and the from television stations. The internal market is very small and Portuguese penetration of international markets is fairly precarious. A film is considered success when it draws an audience of more than 150,000 which few Portuguese films manage.

Director Manoel de Oliveira continues to make films at the age of ninety three and since 1990 has made an average of one film per year. He has received international recognition awards and won the respect of the cinematography community all over the world. 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). Despite his international recognition, the films of Oliveira (and that of other Portuguese directors) is neglected locally.

Joao César Monteiro, a member of the generation that founded the "New Portuguese Cinema" in the 1960's, a provocative film maker in the 1990's made "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.

Teresa Villa Verde is a younger film maker and in the 1990s she surfaced as a director, her film (Tres Irmaos, 1994) won the best actress award at the Venice Film Festival.

Cuisine

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".

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 Dao, Vinho Verde, and the sweet: Port Wine (Vinho do Porto, literally Porto's wine), Madeira wine, Moscatel of Setúbal and Moscatel of Favaios.

Dance

Folk dances include:

• Bailarico
• Ciranda
• Circle dance
• Corridinho (of the Algarve and Estremadura regions)
• Fandango (of the Ribatejo region)
• Malhao
• Maneio
• O Pedreiro
• O Ti Tirititi
• Regadinho
• Sapatinho
• Schottische (Chotiça)
• Tau-Tau
• Two Steps Waltz
• Vareira
• Vareirinha
• Vira (of the Minho region)
• Vira de Cruz
• Vira de Macieira
• Vira Solto
• Zé que Fumas

There are also variations of these dances called the Xama-Rita in the Azores. Dance apparel is highly varied, ranging from work clothes to the Sunday best.

Literature

Portuguese literature has developed since the 12th century from the lyrical works of Joao Soares de Paiva and Paio Soares de Taveiros. They wrote mostly from Portuguese oral traditions known as "cantigas de amor e amigo" and "cantigas de escárnio e maldizer" which were sung by troubadours.

Following chroniclers such as Fernao Lopes after the 14th century, fiction has its roots in chronicles and histories with theatre following Gil Vicente, whose works was critical of the society of his time.

Classical lyrical texts include Os Lusiadas, by Luis de Camoes with other authors including Antero de Quental, Almeida Garrett and Camilo Pessanha.

Portuguese modernism is found in the works of Fernando Pessoa.

Following the Carnation Revolution the Portuguese people, after several decades of repression, had freedom of speech.

José Saramago received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Music

Portuguese musical traditions are diverse and dynamic; they reflect multifarious historical, cultural and political processes with influences from non-European cultures from both North and sub-Saharan Africa and Brazil.

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 1960s started a period of expansion and innovation with pop, rock and jazz introduced and evolving, political song developed, the fado of Lisbon and the Coimbra were revitalized. 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.

The modern revival of academic music was primarily work of Luis de Freitas Branco, and continued by Joly Braga Santos. Composers like Antonio Victorino d'Almeida, Jorge Peixinho, Miguel Azguime, Pedro Amaral, and Joao Pedro Oliveira are known internationally. Orchestras include the Orquestra Sinfonica 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 Sao Carlos in Lisbon, which was built in the late 18th century, has its own orchestra and ballet company. Among notable pianists, Maria Joao 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.

Cançoes de Intervençao (Political Songs)

Political songs (cançoes de intervençao) 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 criticise 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, Luis 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 notable Portuguese musicians are the piano players Artur Pizarro, Maria Joao Pires e Sequeira Costa, and the composers: Fernando Lopes-Graça, Emmanuel Nunes, Jorge Peixinho, Constança Capdeville, Clotilde Rosa, Fernando Correa de Oliveira, Cláudio Carneyro, Frederico de Freitas, Joly Braga Santos and Isabel Soveral.

Fado

Fado (translated as destiny or fate) is a music genre which can be traced from the 1820s, but probably with much earlier origins. It is characterised by mournful tunes and lyrics, often about the sea or the life of the poor. The music is usually linked to the Portuguese word saudade, a unique word with no accurate translation in any other language. (Home-sickness has an approximate meaning. It is a kind of longing, and conveys a complex mixture of mainly nostalgia, but also sadness, pain, happiness and love). Some enthusiasts claim that Fado's origins are a mixture of African slave rhythms with the traditional music of Portuguese sailors and Arabic influence.

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. Modern fado is popular in Portugal, and has produced many renowned musicians. According to tradition, to applaud fado in Lisbon you clap your hands, in Coimbra you cough as if clearing your throat.

Mainstream fado performances during the 20th century included only a singer, a Portuguese guitar player and a classical guitar player but more recent settings range from singer and string quartet to full orchestra.

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.

Folk Music

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.

Hip Hop

Hip hop has been important since the 1980s with areas like Chelas, Amadora, Cacém and the South Bank of the Tagus are considered to be the cradle of Hip Hop Tuga.

The album called "Rapublica" released in 1994 by Black Company established hip hop in Portugal. The refrain from a song called "Nao sabe nadar, yo" ("Cant swim, yo!") was used by the president of Portugal, Mario Soares in a speech about the cave painting in Foz Côa saying that "As gravuras nao sabem nadar, yo!" ("The paintings can't swim, yo!").

There are two showcase events, Flowfest and Hip Hop Porto. Flowfest, in Coimbra, started in 2005. Hip Hop Porto is a free event held at Casa da Música, in September. It features mainly the northern hip hop names as headliners, drawing a very local audience. Usually the event is held outdoors, but in 2006 the heavy rains made the event relocate to the parking lot of the building, causing an "underground" look.

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 criticise social (and political) issues, but in a way that entertains and amuses the audience.

Gil Vicente became famous for his satirical plays such as the "Triologia das Barcas" ("Auto da Barca do Inferno" (1517), "Auto da Barca do Purgatorio" (1518); "Auto da Barca da Gloria" (1518)). In these plays, he creates some characters who are representative of their social group. This results in not only comical, but also strong critical situations. Gil Vicente also wrote other important plays such as "Auto da India" (1509), "Auto da Fama" (1510), and "Farsa de Ines Pereira" (1523).

Another relevant playwright of the 16th century is Antonio Ferreira (1528-1569), who wrote "A Castro" (1587), a well-known tragedy about the forbidden love between D. Pedro I and D. Ines de Castro. Antonio Ferreira is considered the father of Renaissance culture in Portugal.

One of the most famous playwrights of the 18th century is Antonio José da Silva (1705-1739), commonly known as "O Judeu" because of his Judaic origins. He wrote several plays such as "Os Encantos de Medeia" (1735), "As Variedades de Proteu" (1737) and "Precipicio de Faetonte" (1738).

Almeida Garrett (1799-1854) was a turning point in Portuguese literature as far as the themes are concerned. His most outstanding play is "Frei Luis de Sousa" (1844), which became a classic of Portuguese theatre. Garrett also wrote "Um Auto de Gil Vicente" (1838), "Filipa de Vilhena" (1846) and "O Alfageme de Santarém" (1842). These three plays as well as "Frei Luis de Sousa" are somehow connected with Portuguese history. Furthermore, Garrett is also the founder of the "Conservatorio Geral de Arte Dramática" as well as of the "Teatro Nacional D. Maria II".

As far as the 20th century is concerned, it's worth noticing Bernardo Santareno's (1920-1980) work. His most famous play is "O Judeu", based upon the life of Antonio José da Silva, mentioned above. Santareno also wrote "A Promessa" (1957), "O Crime da Aldeia Velha" (1959) and "Anunciaçao" (1962). Most of his plays deal with universal questions such as liberty, oppression and discrimination.

Born in 1926, Luis de Sttau Monteiro (1926-1993) wrote several plays, some of them portraying and criticising Portuguese society of his time. His most famous play is "Felizmente Há Luar" (1961), which is a strong criticism of the political context of that time (dictatorship - Estado Novo). "O Barao" (1965), "A Guerra Santa" (1967) and "Sua Excelencia" (1971) were also written by Sttau Monteiro.

In the 20th century, theatre in Portugal became more popular with the "Revista" - a comical and satirical form of theatre. It is a creative way of expressing one's ideas as well as criticising political and social problems. The most important actors who performed this form of theatre in the 20th century were Vasco Santana (1898-1958), Beatriz Costa (1907-1996) and Ivone Silva (1935-1987). Nowadays it is worth mentioning Maria Joao Abreu, José Raposo and Fernando Mendes, who perform this form of theatre at the well known "Parque Mayer" (a theatre in Lisbon where the "Revista" used to be performed).

Other outstanding Portuguese actors are Ruy de Carvalho, Eunice Muñoz, Rui Mendes, Irene Cruz and Luis Miguel Cintra.

Sports and Games

Football is the most popular and practised sport in Portugal. The first person responsible for its implementation would have been Guilherme Pinto Basto (according to some people, his brothers Eduardo and Frederico brought the first ball from England). It was he who had the initiative to organise an exhibition of the new game, which took place in October of 1888, and it was also him who organised the first football match in January of the following year. The match, played where today the Campo Pequeno bullring is located, involved opposing teams from Portugal and England. The Portuguese won the game 2-1. Consequently, football started attracting the attention of the high society, being distinguished by the Luso-British rivalry.

Later, the game spread, being practised in colleges and leading to the foundation of clubs all over the country. Until the end of the century, associations such as Clube Lisbonense, Carcavelos, Braço de Prata, the Real Ginásio Clube Portugues, the Estrela Futebol Clube, the Futebol Académico, the Campo de Ourique, the Oporto Cricket, and the Sport Clube Vianense were founded to practise this sport or created sections for competing.

The first match, between Lisbon and Porto, took place in 1894, attended by King D. Carlos.

The Clube Internacional de Futebol (founded in 1902) was the first Portuguese team to play abroad defeating, in 1907, the Madrid Futebol Clube in the Spanish capital.

Currently, of the most important teams of the sport in Portugal, the oldest is the Boavista Futebol Clube, which was founded in 1903. The Futebol Clube do Porto, after an unsuccessful attempt in 1893, appeared in 1906, stimulated by José Monteiro da Costa, among others. The Sporting Clube de Portugal was founded in 1906 by the Viscount of Alvalade and his grandson José de Alvalade. Sport Lisboa e Benfica, was born in 1908 from the fusion of the Sport Lisboa (founded in 1904) with the Grupo Sport Benfica. They are all clubs that traditionally have several sports activities but they give great distinction to football, making use of teams of professional players, which frequently participate in European competitions.

In 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. Luis Figo was voted 2001 Player of the Year by FIFA, after finishing 2nd in 2000. Rui Costa and Cristiano Ronaldo are also noteworthy and Vitor Baia 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.

Other than football, many other professional and well organised 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.

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.