Fado Museum

Fado Museum
Museu do Fado
The Fado Museum entrance in Lisbon
Map
Interactive fullscreen map
Established25 September 1998; 26 years ago (1998-09-25)
LocationLargo do Chafariz de Dentro, 1, Lisbon, Portugal
Coordinates38°42′40″N 9°07′39″W / 38.7111284°N 9.127618°W / 38.7111284; -9.127618
TypeMusic museum
Visitors53,014 (2022)[1]
DirectorSara Pereira
Public transit accessMetro: Santa Apolónia
Train: Santa Apolónia
Bus: Lines 728, 735, 759, 794
Websitewww.museudofado.pt

The Fado Museum is a music museum dedicated to Fado located in the Lisbon neighbourhood of Alfama. It was inaugurated on 25 September 1998.[2]

The building

The museum is housed in a building that was formerly a pumping station for Lisbon's water supply. Construction began in 1868 and in 1869 two steam engines made by an Anglo-French company, E. Windsor & Fils, were installed to power the pumping mechanism. It continued to carry out this function until 1938. The building then functioned as a workshop until after the 1974 Carnation Revolution, when it was occupied by the Portuguese Communist Party. Before opening as the Fado museum in 1998 it was restored and enlarged.[3]

The museum

In 2008 the museum was thoroughly renovated. Rather than recreating the traditional environment of Fado, its Permanent Exhibition changed its focus to exhibiting artworks related to Fado by artists such as José Malhoa, Júlio Pomar and Constatino Fernandes, as well as objects from Fado's history, including sheet music, videos, music and hundreds of biographies. Among the works exhibited are the paintings O fado by José Malhoa and Os fadistas (1873) by Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro.[4] An audio guide in Portuguese, English, French and Spanish was also made available to the museum's visitors.[5]

Since 2016 the museum hosts on its official website a digital sound archive with thousands of sound recordings, available in full, going back to the beginning of the 20th century. The recordings can be browsed by interpreter or repertoire. It has also launched a record label, Museu do Fado Discos.[6]

References

  1. ^ Relatório e Contas 2022 (PDF) (Report) (in Portuguese). EGEAC. 2023. p. 30. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Museu do Fado celebra 20 anos" [Fado Museum celebrates 20 years [of existence]]. Antena 1 (in Portuguese). RTP. 22 November 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Central Elevatória da Praia / Museu do Fado e da Guitarra Portuguesa". Sistema de Informação para o Património Arquitetónico (SIPA). Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Quadro de Malhoa integra renovado Museu do Fado que abre quinta-feira" [Painting by Malhoa joins the renovated Fado Museum which will open this Thursday]. RTP (in Portuguese). Lusa News Agency. 28 September 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  5. ^ Moço, João (6 October 2008). "Aos dez anos, o Museu do Fado renova-se e abraça a tecnologia" [10 years on, the Fado Museum is renovated and embraces technology]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Global Media Group. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Museu do Fado disponibiliza Arquivo Sonoro Digital e cria Editora discográfica" [Fado Museum releases Digital Sound Archive and creates record label]. Antena 1 (in Portuguese). RTP. 21 June 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2023.