Portuguese Language Museum cancels funk exhibition after becoming target of far-right politicians, says curator

Curator of the exhibition 'Funk: Um Grito de Ousadia e Liberdade' cites censorship after the event was closed before the date
Disclosure
Renata Prado, curator of the exhibition "Funk: Um Grito de Ousadia e Liberdade", wrote an open letter on social media citing censorship after the event was closed before the scheduled date, without prior notice.
On display at the Portuguese Language Museum, in São Paulo, the exhibition featured 473 works of art, photographs, audiovisuals, clothing and other items. The exhibition, which ran for a year and a half at Museu de Arte do Rio, gained new content about São Paulo funk when it arrived in São Paulo, in November 2025.
To g1, Renata stated that the exhibition was scheduled to remain on display until August. But, according to reports on social media, it was closed earlier than agreed. The Portuguese Language Museum website informs that the event came to an end on May 31st. When contacted by g1, the museum did not return until the last update of this report.
"Nobody [from the State government or the MLP] spoke to me, there was no dialogue to think of a way forward. We suffered a systematic attack and were unable to defend ourselves", said Renata to g1.
"The MLP held a series of meetings with me to understand that the funk movement is unique and that the exhibition could suffer retaliation. Access to culture is a constitutional right that, in this case, was not guaranteed. We left through the back door of the museum", highlighted the researcher.
According to Renata's posts, the closure before the date occurred after "videos and demonstrations began to emerge from far-right parliamentarians attacking the exhibition and associating its content with an apology for crime, drugs and narcoculture. Since the beginning of these attacks, I was informed by the Museu da Língua Portuguesa that the repercussion was being monitored."
One of these videos was from state deputy Tenente Coimbra (PL). On social media, he mentioned that he was at the event and stated: "We went to the Museu da Língua Portuguesa to check the absurdity that is on display that praises narcoculture. We have already contacted the secretary of culture and we will bring news soon." had been presented or discussed with me throughout the exhibition production process", adds the researcher.
In her report, Renata stated that it was "necessary to name what is happening".
"It's censorship. And there is a deeply symbolic dimension to this episode. We are talking about an exhibition held at the Portuguese Language Museum, an institution dedicated to valuing the multiple forms of expression that make up our culture."
"Funk also produces language. It produces vocabularies, codes and forms of communication that influence millions of people. Therefore, when a peripheral cultural manifestation is silenced, the question that remains is: Who decides which ones deserve to occupy the country's memory spaces?."
"Defend the funk is also about defending the legitimacy of young, black and peripheral expressions. It is about defending the lives of all poor people who find a way to exist in black cultures", concluded the researcher.
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Source: G1

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