Suai Media Space

Suai Media Space role in profiling the work of the artists of Suai has brought a significant pay off for Arte Moris senior artist from Suai Loro Natalino dos reis Pires. Natalino’s work was recently included in an exhibition at Bundoora Homestead Victoria which was featured in a story on Suai Media Space. It was here that Art Asia Pacific were able to see photographs of the work and subsequently requested photographs of five works for publication in their annual Almanac which is distributed internationally. This is a great compliment to Natalino and a tribute to the hard work of Manager of Arte Moris Gabriela Gansser who initiated the exhibition in cooperation with her Australian ‘Friends of Bacau’.

The paintings they have selected include: Amali 2, Gerasaun, Horta, Abat, Muda Moris and Toko Adat which can be viewed here.  The selection is interesting to me because it provides a combination of representations that cover the transformation of Timorese identity and trauma.

These works show how Timorese traditional culture and their traditional textile the tais are appearing in the work of the artists from Cova Lima Suai and redefining Timorese culture for a new audience in the international art market. The slideshow includes more work of senior artist Natalino dos Reis Pires whose work featured in Melbourne at the recent Arte Moris Bundoora Exhibition, as well as the work of Rius, Mari and Gibrael. More about Natalino dos Reis Pires

There are over thirty images in this slideshow. They begin loading randomly at low resolution. When they have finished loading there is a slideshow controller at the bottom you will see by hovering or clicking the cursor there; there is also a small square where you click to view full screen images. (Recommended)

In 2006 Artists working in Arte Moris the free art school in Dili had already begun encouraging their students to paint on the tais. For those familiar with the culture of Timor and the tais the motifs in the paintings and drawings will be easily identifiable. For those  who are unfamiliar with the tais you can see a good selection of tais in our story about the Exhibition and Forum held in St Kilda in 2008 where there are many great examples of tais several from Suai Covalima and an article.

In the paintings and drawings shown here, sometimes the tais is used as a canvas in others the strong history of patterns that appear in tais and the stripe are prominent either as background or patterned into the figures.

In one painting by Gibrael it is painted as the thorny skin of a crocodile that floats on a background pattern depicted with geometric lines similar to those found in Covalima tais. Also there are the familiar traditional grass roofed houses above a man and a woman doing a traditional dance with cloth. In another work by Natalino a collection of traditional icons such as the golden buffalo horn head-dress are layered in oil on to a reed mat, a Biti that is used for sitting on the ground for conversation, hospitality and meetings.

Interestingly the majority of portraits in this collection that include the tais in some form are of women who are the primary producers of tais. In the portraits the transformation of  Timor’s culture is undeniable if you compare the view of Senora Pires in the black western suit and white shirt  in front of a bright tais featuring the synthetic colours of Indonesian cottons frequently used today, to the portraits of women clothed in tais or cotton sarongs or surrounded by tais in the more muted and subtle natural dyes of the traditional tais. Mari has created an interesting portrait of a man titled ‘The Culture Face’ in which he has used a variety of traditional pieces including the tais as the material of the head.

In his paintings Mari has used the tais to create political narratives. In the work ‘Together’ Mari has used the stripe, the crocodile symbol and a generic traditional house  woven together. In another titled ‘Imperialism’ he has used the tais to section the canvas in to nine areas at the centre of which are houses with varying shaped roofs that signify they are from different districts in East Timor. At the centre bounded by the tais is a rectangular Portuguese style house with the buffalo horn laid on the ground before it in the foreground.

East Timor’s tragic history is poignantly represented in Natalino’s tragic and poetic painting ‘Tragedia’ in which a traditional house is patterned entirely with red tais while a shredded red tais drips like blood from fragments of structural pieces in the background.

Rius has used the tais in more abstract form in his beautiful pieces titled ‘Timor Nabilan’ (2008) and ‘Rai Hamutuk’ (2007) but the influence of the tais on Timorese life is very clear.

Included in the slideshow is the work of Mari, Gibrael and Rius also from Suai. Unfortunately since Gabi just gave me copies of her files during a very busy visit, I don’t have the surnames of Mari Gibrael or Rius, so apologies to them we will put that right as soon as we can.

You can see the work of Natalino featured in the Arte Moris Exhibition in Melbourne recently and read more about him here.  All the work of the artists is for sale by contacting Gabi through the Arte Moris website.

I just heard the news that Galaxy is coming to Melbourne and that there is to be an exhibition by Arte Moris. I’ll post dates when they come to hand.

Checkout our Interview with charismatic punk Galaxy lead singer Meli with good friend Annie Sloman when they were in Melbourne in 2006.

From their original headquarters in a bombed out house in their hometown of Los Palos, Galaxy has risen from the trauma and chaos of the independence struggle to become one of the most well-respected bands in the world’s newest nation.

Adored by the masses of youth, these tattooed, deadlocked young men are often feared and misunderstood by the church leaders and elites. Galaxy exemplifies rock’n’roll in its essence as the wild energy and raw emotion of youth, all the more powerful and genuine due to the real-life revolutionary context from which they come. With their unique blend of rap, funk, acoustic and hard rock meeting the traditional rhythms of the Fataluku people of the east of Timor and the resistance songs of the independence movement, Galaxy is truly a leader in contemporary Timorese music. Check it out

http://www.myspace.com/galaxytimor

Renowned for tackling tough issues and taking a stand, Galaxy sing candidly about the Timor gap, AIDS, corruption, Timor’s history and the struggle of daily life in a poor and recently independent nation. After playing in every conceivable situation from stadium concerts to lonely mountain towns Galaxy know how to please.

Galaxy are based in Dili at the Arte Moris (Living Art) free art school, where they are supported by Bibi Bulak (Crazy Goats) Performance Arts and Music Troupe which works in theatre, film, dance, music, radio, TV, circus and writing. When not in the studio, Galaxy teach percussion, jembe, music, visual artists at Arte Moris & Bibi Bulak and work as visual and tatoo artists.

Suai Media Space received news from Ergilio Vicente – Co-ordinator of the Covalima Youth Centre today that their film “Hadame Malu Hemu We Moruk’ – ‘Reconciled by Drinking Sacred Water’, won first prize in a film competition held as part of a recent film festival held in Dili.  The group won a video camera and a special commendation  from his Excellency President Ramos Horta.

Over the past 2 days the Youth Centre has been holding a series of activities with the Pre-secondary  students and Secondary students of Covalima.  In all 11 schools were in involved in the activities.  One was a Quiz contest among Pre secondary students and Secondary students drawing on the subjects of their study.and the other was a Magazine competition.  Ergilio reports Suai Media Space can expect some photographs soon and the video will be uploaded in the New Year when it arrives in Melbourne.

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Suai Media Space received news that the installation of the satellite dish earmarked for Suai  by the International Centre for Journalists, that would see broadband delivered in to Covalima, has been postponed. Emanuel Braz consultant to ICFJ and initiator of the Uma Media Project said on the weekend that ICFJ needed to clarify the relationships with the organisations in Suai before they could go ahead with the installation. Originally ICFJ said that the satellite dish would be installed in October – November.  Andrew Maher of Info Exchange said on Friday that until last week he had understood the project was on track. The Friends of Suai in Port Phillip only became aware of the delay this weekend too. It seems that the Memorandum of Understanding to be signed by all parties has created a stumbling block.

The Circle of Stones the short film (11mins) has been uploaded on to Suai Media Space. Written and Directed by Jen Hughes and Filomena dos Reis. Edited by Rosie Jones

The Circle of Stones documents the story the Suai Church Massacre. The film intercuts a  re-enactment of the massacre, written and directed by Filomena dos Reis for a performance held on the First Anniversary, with the grieving around the circle of stones and the Catholic Mass. In this way the film has been given an intimate and emotional dramatic tension rarely seen in a short documentary. Controversial because of its intimate shots of the women grieving and its emotional character, the critics couldn’t know that the footage was made possible by the deliberate actions of those women who pulled the filmmaker into the circle so that their story would be told to the world. As Melbourne writer and film critic Felicity Collins commented:

“…. The circle of stones shows us the face of grief, in particular it shows us the faces of women taking on the public role of mourning with their bodies and their voices. . The film’s quiet focus on the intense expression of collective grief reminds us that remembering the past through mourning is a way of making history and that women play a key role in this process.”

In 2002, with the help of ETAN Filomena took the film on a tour of the United States and screened it for the U.S. Congress.  According to Filomena, she thanked the Congress members for their time, and asked their indulgence to watch the film she brought with her. As the video player began she turned her back and left some of the most powerful people in the world to watch this simple plea for justice.  Among the audience who saw the film were Hilary Clinton and Condaleeza Rice. According to Filomena, with tears in her eyes Ms Clinton bent forward to whisper in her ear ” I cannot promise, but we will see what we can do”. We are still waiting Ms Clinton.

Made purely as an act of friendship for the people of Suai this little film has done some good work, now it can continue via this website.

A Mother’s Lament at the Ninth Anniversary of the Santa Cruz Massacre comes as a surprise to everybody. When this woman burst from the crowd I think she spoke for many in the voice suppressed by the order of the day. Since I video taped this footage I learned that this woman lost three children in the Santa Cruz Massacre on November 12, 1991. Little wonder she felt justified in letting her feelings fly and appeals to God for a reason.

Episodes 1 & 3

I received an email from Ergilio (Director of the Suai Youth Centre) yesterday while I was working on the first of a series of video letters to Suai …I have to ask him for permission to publish his letter in full .. at the moment he is sharing the news only with me and we want him to share it with you, the readers of our website. but I’m sure he will not mind this quote …
“Mana Jen Diak ka lae……..
We are busy with 12 Nov Massacre and AIDS day on 1st December …. we are organising a photography competition in the schools …. Rgds Egy”

I was in Dili for the Ninth Anniversary of the Santa Cruz Massacre with Veronica Pereira and over the next few days I will be posting video stories. The documentary stories begin with the first ‘Letter to Suai’ ‘Seeking the Light’ The Timorese have a very poetic language and it is often my desire to facilitate as simply as possible, their stories or songs.  Many times I simply take the titles of my films and video letters from their words. This is the case for the first video letter which documents Timorese youth from the Taibisse’s ‘Quiet Moment’ Theatre Group and the ‘Rai Timor’ Theatre Group as they spoke from their hearts from high on the walls of the Santa Cruz Cemetry on November 12, 2000 before leaping to the ground to the sound of a wall of gunfire.

At the time and afterwards I was struck by the insensitivity of the seated guests who, unable to understand their words chattered and whispered throughout the performance despite the shshhh of others who did understand. My Tetun was very limited, and so the performance took me by surprise. I was having difficulties with positioning myself and my audio lead was faulty, creating intermittent crackling sounds. In documentary editing this rough footage would normally be cut out and inclusion of the whole performance would be limited by narrative and time constraints. The raw footage however gives everyone the opportunity to hear directly from these young people, about how they were feeling at that time. This was the first year after the ballot for Independence when Dili and the rest of the country was still devastated by the scorched earth campaign waged by the Indonesian backed militia before they departed. It was a time of mixed grief and trauma, happiness and high hopes for the future. The young men who organised the Remembrance that day,in their introduction, invite their leaders to remember the sacrifice of the people as the lead them out of the valley of tears into the future. In hindsight these words have added poignancy.

Episode two of ‘Seeking the Light’ shows a woman bursting from the crowd crying out an unscripted devastating lament in her native langauge Tetun, calling for recognition that the leadership’s decisions are causing the ordinary people unbearable suffering. Filomena dos Reis who counsels this woman, told me she lost three sons at the Santa Cruz Massacre. As she called for recognition of the pain of ordinary people, her vocal grief was hurriedly muffled by loud strains of music turned on by the organisers. Following this her sincere and powerful lament was replaced by a young girl reciting a rehearsed short history of East Timor in Portuguese, for the benefit of assembled international guests. ‘Seeking the Light’

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When Pat Jessen of the Friends of Suai went shopping to buy tais for the market stall to be set up for the Tais Forum held in St Kilda in early September she bought a tais mane (male tais) woven by Orlando Martins (centre photo), for the market stall at the Friends of Suai Weaving Forum: Exploring Meanings, Makers & Markets of East Timor. The beauty and technical excellence of the tais led to it being included in the  Friends of Suai Tais Exhibition: Exploring Meanings, Makers & Markets of Tais where it became an outstanding contribution  alongside another feto tais (female tais) from Kamenassa.   We are unsure who wove the female tais, but our photographs show Inveolata weaving a very similar one during the time we were there. The tais  have since been donated to the Alola Foundation Collection.

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English Exhibition Retratu

SEPTEMBER 2008, ST KILDA TOWN HALL, MELBOURNE.
La iha ema wain hanesan hau maka hetan privilegio atu hare exposisaun (pameran) tais kapas tebes ema feto Timor sira soru. Ba loron Sexta-Feira i Sabado, 5-6 Septembro 2008 hau kontente tebes tan bele hare tais kapas tebes nian mai hosi fatin barak iha rai Timor maka sai iha exposisaun iha St Kilda Town Hall (Prefeitura St Kilda), Melbourne, Australia. Iha kwartu bot kapas ida nia laran ema hatudu tais barak hosi rai Timor. Kwartu nee nian kadidin halo hosi ai maka maar tebes. Ema tara tais sira ba kadidin ai iha kwartu nee laran. Kadidin maar nee la halo tama kreta no bonde nia lian mai hosi Estrada bot St Kilda Road, i mos la halo tama lian hosi manu aman sira kokorek, lian hosi haok i nesun ba oras loro raik feto sira fai akar iha Suai.

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Doutora Sara Niner (Post Graduate Research Fellow hosi Universidade Monash maka hakerek Xanana Gusmao nian biografia) organisar Exposiaun ho Forum nee kona ba tais Timor i tradisaun soru tais. Doutora Niner lori colesaun tais hosi Alola Foundation ba St Kilda Town Hall nian Galleria. La iha ema barak maka hetan sorti lao ba Timor bodik hare hodi matan i rona hodi tilun duuk nuunabe feto Timor sira tradionalmente soru tais. Ema nain atus ida karik maka hakara aprende tuaan tan teni kona ba tais i hakara fo apoio ba ema feto Timor sira soru tais presenta i tuir ceremonorio lacemento i forum nee: “Significado Soru Tais & Feto Soru Tais Sira hosi Timor Leste.”

Hau incluir tiha ona fotografia kona ba nuunabe feto sira halo futus i sui futus. Timor oan barak maka konese i hatene tais sira nee mai hosi distritu nabe. Futus i ahan hosi tais sira nee halo Timor oan sira bele hatene i konese hosi distritu nabe tais sira nee mai no mos sira hatene tais sira nee nia funsaun kona ba moris seremonial nian. Maibe, ema Malae sira sei la duun hatene dauk significado nosi tais nia futus. [Hau incluir informasaun koma ba tais sira nee iha sura fotografia tais nia ohak. Por favor, clicar ba fotografia siar nee si ita hakara fotografia siar nee sai bot. Por favour dada tun cursor centrimetro hira hosi leten too raik bodik atu ita bele hare bataun “proxima” i “anterior” ….]

Ita hare tiha ona beleza hosi tais sira nee i admirar feto Timor sira nian matenek tradicional kona ba soru tais nian. Agora ita hamutuk atu hare colesaun tais Timor hosi loro sae too loro monu, hosi tasi feto too tasi mane, maka feto matenek Timor oan sira soru, i significado sagrado, religioso, social i cultural hosi tais sira nee. Significado sira nee atu sai aat ou lakon si ita trata tais hanesan objeto mercadorio i commericio deit.

Desde 1999 ema Australiana sira barak maka ajuda feto Timor oan sira importar tiha ona tais wain bodik faan hanesan objetu commercial iha Australia neebe atu ajuda teni feto Timor oan sira soru tais ho halo sacu, bolsa, carteira, kusin falun ho cesta maka bele faan iha Australia i rai seluk sira. Agora organisadoras i participantes sira iha Forum tais nian nee atu buka hatene impactu ba feto matenek soru tais nian. Sira mos atu buka hatene impactu hosi colonialismu i aktividade pos-independencia bodik atu halo diak ou melhorar feto Timor oan sira nia moris.

Belun Suai (Friends of Suai) servisu hamutu ho ONG barak iha Australia ho Universidade Monash bodik organisar Forum kona ba tais Timor maka accontese ba loron 6 fulan Septembru 2008, ba anniversario dalam siwi hosi massacre iha Igreja Suai 6 Septembro 1999. Bodik hanoin, hadomi i hakneter (respeitu) matebian sira i familia hosi matebian sira maka terus susar, Balthasar, membru ida hosi Commissaun Friends of Sui desde 2000, hananu lia nain (poema) ida iha lia Tetum ho Ingles maka nia hakerek iha Dili iha Fulan Septembru 2006 kuando nia visita refugiaun sira maka susar iha campu refugiaun. Iha poema nee Balthasar hanoin i hafolin Timor oan sira nia unidade, solidaridade ho optimism durante funu laran. Poema nee mos kona ba tan sa ida Timor oan sira la hamutu ona, tan sa ida sira fahe malu i halo funu malu, loro sae contra loro monu, tan sa ida ulun sir oras independecia ona, tan sa ida la servisu hamutu ona, tan sa ida ulun sira la besik ona ba ema kiik sira durante independencia laran. Poema nee mos husu ba Timor oan sira, especialemente ba nai ulun sira, atu servisu hamutu hodi halo rai Timor ba oin, ba diak. Timor atu sais a ida si Timor oan sira la hamutu, si nai ulun sira foti aan i fahe malu, si nai ulun sira haluha ona matebian sira i povo kiik sira nia susar, si nai ulun sira taka tilun no matan povo kiik sira. Timor atu sai sa ida se Timor oan sira la hamutu, se nai ulun sira la hamutu, si nai ulun sira la hamutu ho povo kiik sira ona?

Ema hare iha exposasun (pameran) nee tais rua maka kapas tebe-tebes mai hosi Suai-Kamanasa, Covalima. Coordinador hosi Friends of Suai, Pat Jessen, i membru commisaun Friends of Suai ida naran Desleigh Kent hola tais rua nee iha Kamanasa ho tai seluk sira iha Suai kuando sira visita Suai iha fulan Junho 2008. Sira hola tais nee bodik Friends of Suai nian pameran iha programa pameran i forum tais Timor. Friends of Suai kleur ona halo promosaun no faan cafe Timor, maibe foin isin dala uluk ba tinan nee sira halo promosaun i faan tais Timor iha progama pameran tais Timor. Sei daun la hatene si Friends of Suai atu continua tinan ba tinan halo promosaun i faan tais Timor iha sura opportunidade maka mosu bodik atu ajuda feto sira iha Covalima tan sira halo actividade barak kona ba halo belun ho ema rai Covalima particularmente ema cidade Suai. Contudu, insiativa primeiru hosi promosaun no faan tais Covalima iha Pameran tinan nee atu loke oda matan bodik povu sira iha Cidade Port Phillip maka hakara atu apoiu feto sira iha Covalima kona ba sira nian actividade cultura soru tais.

Exposisaun ou Pameran ho Forum kona ba Tais Timor nee halo hau hatene tebes i hakara hatene liu tan teni katak tais nee forma artistic ida hosi Sudeste Asiastico (Asia Tenggara), particularmente hosi rai Timor tomak—Timor Loro Sae (Timor Timur) i Timor Loro Toba/Monu (Timor Barat). Hau aprende hosi hau nian observasaun no experiencia katak cultura tradicional ema Timor kona ba soru tais moris hamutu ho cultura tradicional kuda kabas, hahoris kabas, kuu kabas, hamos kabas, tesi, futu, hiri, kesi, hametan, hamean, hamodok kabas, ai tahan, ai kulit, ai funan oi-oik bodik cermoniu tradicional, la hos bodik practica economica deit. Agora hau hatene diak liu teni nuunabe procesu soru (halo) tais i daka (conservar) tradisaun Timor importante tebes tan (porque) tradisaun nee culturalmente hahoris ou fo identidade ba feto Timor, i tan tradisaun nee significa tebes bodik relasaun i cohesi social. Forum kona ba tais Timor nee reiterar katak ita tengki daka i bali (proteger) feto matenek badaen soru tais nian i tais maka sira soru. Hau hanoin importante tebes ba ita atu foti sae i hametin feto matenek badaen soru tais sira nia neon i kaliuk halobot, halometin i foti sae feto soru tais sira maka matenek i badaen tebes. Importante liu, hau hafolin katak soru tais hanesan practica cultural ida fo significado hosi moris (makna hosi moris) ba ema Timor oan sira, kaliuk ba feto Timor oan sira.

Timor oan sira i Australia oan sira maka presente iha Exposisaun no Forum nee, hamutu ibun, hamutu lia katak importante tebes crear mercado (ciptakan pasaran) bodik tais maka feto Timor sira soru neebe sira bela financialamente moris diak hodi soru kapas i creativo tan teni sira nia tais. Maibe Timor oan ida naran Ego Lemos maka agora aprende iha Universidade Victoria, Melbourne, hatauk katak signaficadu cultural ho sagrado hosi tais no practica soru tais bele lakon si ema halo tais i matenek soru tais sai ba simplemente objetu i pratica commercializada ou mercadoria. Tebes, tuir Doutora Sara Niner nia hanoin, experiencia iha Australia i iha rai seluk hatuda katak importante tebes ba ema keta halo practica cultural maka fo significada de vida (makna hidup) sai ba practica industria ou commercializada deit. Problema ou dificuldade maka nee: Feto Timor oan sira, especialmente feto tradisional sira, matenek tebes ba soru tais, maibe sira nee vulneravel tebes tan influencia bot tebes mai hosi anin bot globalisaun mercado. Anin bot globalisaun mercado nee bele halo lakon feto Timor oan sira nia sabedoria ho saber tradicional. Si sabedoria ho saber tradicional nee lakon, sira nia significado de vida ho amor-propria (harga-diri) mos lakon. Agora ema mane nurak barak maka eskola tiha ona la hakara halo toos ona hanesan nuudar uluk sira nia avo sira. Sira nia saber ho sabedoria tradicional bodik atu buka moris lakon tiha ona tan influencia mai hosi luan. Educasaun colonialista ho educasaun moderno halo sira sai hanesan malae maka alienado hosi sira nian saber ho sabedoria local ou tradicional. Tan nee sira hakara hola hahan commercializada maka mai hosi rai seluk (hanesan vos, supermi, mina tenin, cha midar, coca cola) hanesan Indonesia. Maibe sira la iha osan tan sira la iha servisu. Tuan tan teni, la hanesan tempo sira nia avo sira, sira presija osan bodik hatama sira nia osan ba escola. Iha dificuldade nee laran, famili balu halo sira nia oan feto sai hanesan puta (pelacur) bodik atu hetan osan. Tan nee importante tebes atu buka dalan nuunabe bele ajuda Timor oan feto tradicional sira soru tais bodik hetan osan maka bele halo sira bele apoio sira nia aan financialmente, maka bele apoio sira continua sira nia aktividade soru tais bodik tradicionalmente conservar sira nia significadu de vida ho practicamente bodik bele moris. Tan nee mos importante ba ema ONG sira halo dialogo ho feto matenek soru tais nian sira iha Timor atu buka dalan diak bodik conservar ho desonvolver sira nia matenek i sabedoria tradicional iha contextu modernu.

Resultadu hosi Forum nee sai maka nee: estrategia rua. Estragegia primeiru estrategia cultural. Strategi nee kona ba conservar ho desenvolver matenek soru tais bodik valor cultural maka fo significadu de vide. Estrategia segunda estrategia commercial. Strategia nee kona ba buka dalan atu bele hetan moris financialmente hosi matenek soru tais nian. Estrategia cultural ho estrategia commercial tengki kawen malu. Timor oan feto ferik sira tengki hanorin Timor oan feto foin sae sira neebe atu hafoli (valorizar) sira nia matenek tradicional soru tais ho valor cultural hosi tais ho actividade soru tais. Tan nee ita presija aprende tradisaun soru tais ho historia kona ba practica tradicional soru tais iha rai Timor tomak hosi loro sae to loro toba, hosi tasi mane too tasi feto. Ita tengki apprende i hatene simbolu ou significadu religiosu, mitocu, cultural ho historicu hosi tais sira nia futus iha rai Timor tomak. Resultadu ida seluk seluk teni hosi Forum nian mak nee: Plano ida bodik atu organisar Forum ida iha lia Tetum ho Ingles iha Timor maka feto matenek soru tais nian sira iha Timor bele participar.

Exposisaun Tais Timor iha St Kilda Town Hall nee hahu ba Sexta-Feira 5 Septembru too 30 Septembru, Segunda-Feira too Sexta-Feira tuku 9.00 dader too tuku 5.00 loro raik.