Annual Portugal in SoHo celebrates
Portuguese culture and music
Under a searing sun in front of the Duarte statue, Carlos Ferreira played a whole session of drumming, bringing contemporary
rhythms to the streets.
BY TEQUILA MINSKY
Under a hot summer sun,
the festive (if not smallerthan
usual) annual
Portugal in SoHo fete took place
at 6th Avenue and Canal Street
on July 10.
The pandemic version of the
festival last year was a virtual
concert, but this year’s fest was
back in-person, featuring musical
artists.
After its premiere year in 2015
at Soho Square, Arte Institute,
the non-profi t organizing sponsor
expanded its celebration of
Portuguese culture onto Sullivan
Street becoming one of the most
authentic block parties in the
city.
This stretch of surrounding
blocks in SoHo is among the
streets where Portuguese residents
settled after World War II,
and where many still live today.
Currently, permits for outdoor
public space events are diffi cult
to obtain and with the help of
Green Below 14, festival founder
Ana Ventura Miranda secured
Juan Pablo Duarte Square for
this year’s cultural tribute. She
predicted, “Next year, we’ll be
back on Sullivan Street.”
The former actress, who’s currently
a producer and journalist,
moved to New York from Portugal
15 years ago. Three months after
her arrival, she found herself living
in a Printing District building
on Broome Street where almost
half the tenants were Portuguese,
many from that post-World War II
migration.
Her residence, embedded in
the Portuguese-in-New York
community, inspired Miranda to
detail the neighborhood’s and her
neighbors’ histories. Her documentary
fi lm Portuguese from
SoHo released in 2016 tells their
stories, and screened at MOMA,
Anthology of Film Archives, in
SoHo’s Vesuvio Park as well as
26 other countries.
Miranda founded the Arte Institute
in 2011 to promote Portuguese
culture. Under its auspices,
she produces nationally, music,
cinema, art, literature, dance and
performance events.
In front of the Juan Pablo
Duarte statue—named for a Dominican
military leader, Carlos
Ferreira played a whole session
of drumming, bringing contemporary
rhythms to the streets.
Moving into the more hospitable
shade, Fátima Santos and
José Luis Iglésias represented
traditional Portugal through the
PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY
music genre fado.
Performed in pubs, cafes, and
restaurants in Portugal, fado is
Ana Ventura Miranda moved to New York in 2006 working
as a journalist for Portuguese television, to the Portuguese
Mission to the UN, and for Sonnabend Gallery. Through Arte
Institute that she founded in 2011, she promotes Portuguese
contemporary arts. Her documentary the Portuguese from
Soho was released in 2016.
known for its expressiveness and
melancholy. It is among those
listed as Intangible Cultural
Heritage of Humanity on UNESCO’s
Representative List. The
afternoon’s Portuguese melodies
and lyrics defi nitely brought the
culture home.
Village resident Marithelma
Costa while taking her African
Grey Parrot out for some air came
upon and was mesmerized by the
fado performance.
“It was beautiful to listen to
some of Amalia Rodrigues’ fados
by such a delicate soloist,” she
said. “Sadly, the music was not
amplifi ed and some of the notes
were swallowed by Sixth Avenue
traffi c.”
Also on-site during the afternoon,
an arts table provided for
hands-on activities and chunky
chalks encouraged people to reproduce
on cement some of the
beautiful designs of traditional
Portuguese tiles.
The annual SoHo fete normally
includes sale of Portuguese merchandise
and a plethora of food
vendors who always offer “a taste
of Portugal.” Both aspects were
missing this year.
Miranda bemoans the absence
of Portuguese eats.
“What’s a festival without
traditional food?” she sighed,
explaining how food sales were
not allowed this year.
Nonetheless, this year’s festival
continues the tradition of this
annual event.
Arte Institute is also currently
presenting The NY Portuguese
Short Film Festival on July 15 at
the Tribeca Film Center. For more
information on Arte Institute’s
work: arteinstitute.org.
Expressive and melancholic is the music known as fado.
4 July 15, 2021 Schneps Media
/arteinstitute.org