FAXINA Podcast, a Portuguese-language audio documentary focusing on the immigrants stories that get swept under the rug. Faxina {fah-shee-na} is a Portuguese word meaning deep cleaning; the kind of cleaning done when one raises the rug to examine what lies underneath. FAXINA will enter the world of Brazilian house cleaners in America; individuals cleaning other people’s houses while trying to create a home of their own. This podcast will bring their ignored stories to a wider world. FAXINA’s episodes will center around themes emerged from the interviews with house cleaners from the greater Boston area.
Through personal stories that open our hearts and minds, FAXINA podcast intends to broaden the knowledge and to elevate the voice of this underrepresented Latinx community, and create connections among listeners. We deeply expect FAXINA to open up conversations within the Brazilian and the large Latinx community; bringing us closer together. We, creators of FAXINA, also expect to enhance visibility of Latinx audio producers and podcast creators.
From November 2019 to August of 2020, FAXINA Podcast will create and produce eight 30-35 minute episodes within the series “Brazilian Cleaners in America.” Each episode of FAXINA will begin with a brief introduction from the host followed by two story segments by our guests. Stories will be edited and composed from interviews conducted by the producers of FAXINA. Music and audio archival materials selected from our research will be layered in to deepen the listener’s experience and provide transition between segments. Brazilian music, like Brazil’s population, is incredibly diverse, so each individual portrayed in FAXINA will evoke specific music that reflects their persona and journey; the music will be incorporated to create sound as varied as the narratives of our guests.
-FAXINA’s interactive website.
-Two free public exhibitions to discuss the process of making FAXINA, and the topics presented in season one.