Gallery Entry

Five Cavaquinhos

By PALMEIRA · BR

After a luthier dies, his family must decide which of five nearly indistinguishable cavaquinhos - small Brazilian string instruments - will carry his memory: the worn original or one of four near-perfect replicas, some of which perform better. Only Mauro can identify the original because he remembers a hidden repair made with his father decades earlier. As sound, matter, memory, guilt and authority diverge, private knowledge becomes the power to decide what a family will call authentic. Originally written in Brazilian Portuguese as Cinco Cavaquinhos; the Portuguese original is attached as the supporting document.

Category

WRITING

Language

English · Português

Approved

19 September 2026