Elias and the "festa da fita" ...

Elias has not had the presence of his "godmother" in "festa da fita" as he would have liked, but the photos we have just received from Cape Verde, have made her proud  (without any doubt) for having "indirectly" participated in it,  by having paid for whatever was necessary in order to make him feel proud as well, on such an important occasion ... he will be attending primary school next September.

Solidarity gestures (still ...)

These are the latest clothes bought by the "godmothers" for the children in Calheta, having heard that I would soon be going back. I am truly thankful for their support ...

A rose colour skirt and top; a green skirt with embroidered butterflies and a violet pair of trousers and T-shirt bought by Sandra for Nessinha (Left). A colourful dress, an embroidered skirt and a "baby doll" bought by Carla for Leidina (Right) 

A T-shirt and shorts bought by Maria João for Eduardo (Left) and two bathingsuits (one for Nessinha bought by Sandra and one for Tarine bought by me) - (Right)

An embroidered pullover and skirt bougth by me for Leinira (Left). A dress and a pair of sandals bought by Fátima for Tarine and a pair of sandals bought by Sandra for Nessinha (Right)

Ana Maria (who has contributed with an amount of money for school material), Sandra and Carla (Left) and Maria João (Right)

  A "drop in the ocean" ..., someone has said about these contributions ..., which is true, ... but  they are solidarity gestures and they are not as unimportant as some people might think.

An instant out of time ... or poem to Faye ...

"Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still" - Dorothea Lange

An instant out of time ...

Memories still hovering by ...
Your underwater descriptions echoing in my mind ...
The warm seas which witnessed your last dive ...
You ... for whom the limit was the sky ...
An instant out of time ...
An untimely demise ...
... too many memories hovering by ...

Note: Faye Andrade Farr (Lisboa, 13 August 1975 - Lorca, 7 August 2006)

King Afonso V of Portugal and the tapestries of Pastrana ...

Afonso V (15 January 1432 - 28 August 1481), King of Portugal and the Algarves of either side of the sea of Africa, nicknamed the African because of his conquests in Northern Africa (Alcácer Ceguer, Tangiers and Arzila) the latest of which are represented in these fine tapestries of the Colegiata of Pastrana, made his way through a period of "glory" ... the glory of his achievements ...

The King seen here riding his horse prior to the raid of Arcila and during the actual raid.

The 4 tapestries being exhibited in Portugal now, apart from being an absolute beauty, are also undeniably meaningful, once they depict the pride of a Portuguese monarch ... and naturally "his" people, who shared with him the victory of a conquest ...

"To have common glories in the past, a common will in the present, to have done great things together, to wish to do greater, these are the essential conditions which make up a people" - Ernest Renan 

 Portuguese Monarchy is long gone ..., but so seems the pride of people's achievements ... what has changed since then ? ... I can't honestly explain, but I feel, as a lot more people that it may have to do with the "leading" characters ...

Let us "invent" whatever may be necessary to "regain" the Nation's pride ... let us "invent" a glory that may not be in vain ...

"Filling" my soul ...

Photographing in Lidice, Czech Republic, 2007

"Early, very early in my life the bewitching exotism tempted me in a restless way. Why? I don't know. I believe that soon after being born, the marked temperament of a wheighing languideness, led me not to feel adequate where I was and in reverie I cried out for wings, to take me far, far away ...

And I ran, flew away and tattered my soul (because one does tatter one's soul whenever one falls for things) the exotic world around".

 (free translation) Wenceslau de Moraes

With the "Walking around the musseques' group of foreign expatriots", Luanda, Angola, 2006 (Left). Talking to a musician in Fez, Morocco, 2004 (Right)

 Riding around Djerba island in Tunisia, 2005 (Left). Photographing in Guatemala, 2007 (Right)

  

 

 Being approached by people in the streets of old Havana, 2008 (Left). Observing in San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico, 2009 (Right)

Having travelled on my own for quite a while, I rarely have photos of myself ..., although it is relatively unimportant, once the real importance lies on letting  myself go, being bewitched by the "exotic" places ... the people ... the cultural differences ... the similarities ... getting involved ... filling my soul, wearing it to tatters (sometimes) ... and moving on ...

Mozambican Batik "canvases" ...

I rarely talk about things or places I don't know enough of or have never visited, but to the many who have recently told me that I only seem to display Cape Verdian and Angolan Art in my blog, I have decided to introduce some other examples of Art, this time from  Mozambique, although I have not had the chance of visiting this country.

In 1995 I bought some Mozambican batik "canvases", which really fascinated me (still do), not necessarily because they were more colourful than the traditional batik patterns, as in accordance with what I read then, but because the whole thematic  "canvases" depicted the reality of the African daily life in a very realistic way ... the family ...  the daily tasks ... the ceremonial dances ...

Soon after having bought them I realised that this wax resist dyeing technique in fabric was an ancient art form, which according to discoveries already existed in Egypt in the 4th century BCE, though in Africa it was originally practiced in Nigeria and Senegal, but also the fact that to get these patterns, several colours had had to be used, following a series of dyeing, drying and waxing steps, some of which must have been time consuming, particularly since these pieces were clearly not mass produced. 

 

When this technique was introduced in Mozambique I don't know, but according to the lady who sold them to me, quite a few Mozambican artisans make these batik "canvases" in order to get some money by selling them to tourists (quite different from the traditional lineage identification, body wrapping, ceremonial costumes, wide variety of rituals and formal occasions and even corpse wrapping use).

Note: Three of the seven batik "canvases" I bought in 1995, by three Mozambican artists - Majoe, Mapyo and Micas).

" Exit the King" a play by Eugène Ionesco ...

I was wondering whether I would have liked the play as much as I did, had my daugther  Mia not been one of the "characters" on stage, ... but the truth is, I honestly think I would.

This play calls for reflexion ...  What would we do if we were to be informed, like the King was early in the play, that our death was imminent.

Would  we be in denial ? Would we be depressed ... lapse into sentimentatility ... or accept the reality of the impending death? ... but then what would we do? ... How would we react? ...

We may not know ... because we have not been faced with such a situation (yet) ... and may possibly never have to be confronted with it ... 

The play is a lot deeper  ... though everything turns around this main issue.

The interpretation was superb ... the scenario stripped down to a throne ..., the one that even those in power will not be able to hold onto, in the hour of their death.

Carlos Paulo - King Berenger

Tânia Alves - King Berenger's first wife, Marguerite

Ana Lúcia Palminha - King Berenger's second wife, Marie

Rui Neto - The doctor

Mia Farr - The Royal maid

Alexandre Lopes - The Royal guard

Cenography and play adaptation  by João Mota

One last reflection  ... quoting Ionesco " I told myself that one could learn to die, that I could learn to die, that one can also help other people to die. This seems to me to be the most important thing we can do, since we're all of us dying men who refuse to die".

Being different ...

In an environment like mine, where most people look alike, talk alike, think alike and whatever else "alike" dictated by convenience, being "different" may  be equal to being audaciously courageous and eventually prepared to be subject to comments, some of which may not even be "constructive" ... the price for being creative and bold.

As I was walking around Espargos last Summer, I came across this "expressive" house, whose inhabitants I don't know ... but whom I deeply respect for being different ...





 

Kabongo's intoxicating paintings ...

I simply can't help looking at Kabongo's paintings ... the vibrant colours and the intensity of the strokes of paint are intoxicating ...
I am surprised the recognition of his artistic skills as a painter has not gone beyond the Angolan territory ...
Why it is so, or rather is not so ... is something I can't  quite understand ...
Could it be that the "outsiders" in Angola don't apreciate Art ... or could it be that they do apreciate it but don't buy it ... or don' take it out of the country ...?

My mind dwells upon the beauty of theses intoxicating colours ...if not every day ... every now and then ...

Cape Verde handicraft ... or longing ...

Today I have photographed some more of my Cape Verdian handicraft pieces ... or should I say "pieces of Art" ...

 ... As I was photographing them ... I "travelled" back to the community I was in, just a week ago ...

The local women carrying their children on their backs ... Men  sitting around, just anywhere, playing the "ouril" ... And the indisputable "contaminating" sound of funana ...

I  somehow... felt like wanting to be there ...

Driving around Cape Verde ...

Driving around Cape Verde, if you haven't rented a car or have decided not to get a cab, can be quite a trying and tiring adventure ... but it also gives you some insight into what most Cape Verdians have to endure all day long ..., day ... after day ..., month after month ...

You can either get a ride on a "carrinha de caixa aberta" ... or if you are lucky enough on a Hiace ... , but what is more is the amount of time it can take you to actually go from one place to the other, because these drivers will only start the ride when the transportation vehicles are full of passengers, which can easily mean endless minutes driving around the squares,  stopping over at key places and even some backyard streets, whilst calling out for passengers ...

And then depending on the elapsed time, they speed drive along those routes towards the final destination, which is the only thing defined, together with the fare ...

Where they may have to stop to drop off passengers is freely  included in the "adventure" ...

What you experience whilst waiting is sometimes more than the eyes can take ... the whole bustling around the "stranded" vehicles waiting for the passengers ... is a cheerful  one...

Women walking back and forth ... selling all sorts of goods ...





Sucupira (photos taken from inside the Hiace which was to take me to Calheta de São Miguel).



Driving around Cape Verde can be a test to one's patience... and  one's endurance ... the patience we so easily lose in Europe, when the bus is delayed... and the endurance many of us will hardly have ...

The sad looking boy ...

It is almost impossible not to be drawn to this young boy's sad look ...
I haven't got a single picture of him smilling or ... even attempting to ... and I have taken dozens of photos in the various workshop activities and the final day's party ...

It is said "the eyes are the mirror of one's soul" ... and that's what has been worrying me ...

What's going on with Eduardo ?... why does he look  so sad ... and yet so composed ?...

His beauty and his saddness have drawn  Maria João's attention ... so the  sad looking boy has got himself a "Godmother" and a gardian angel !!!

Plateau and its surroundings ...

I love strolling around Plateau ... walk into the French Cultural Centre (although it has been recently moved) or the Palace of Culture ... stop over at Diogo Gomes belvedere, have a drink at Sofia's Café and listen to some live music at Quintal da Música. 

Gamboa Beach and Achada de Santo António as seen from Diogo Gomes belvedere.

Diogo Gomes belvedere, as seen from Gamboa (Left). Santa Maria islet seen from the belvedere (Right).

Embedded in the walls of the belvedere, these paintings depict traditional festivities.

Painting inside Sofia's Café (details)

Painting inside Sofia's Café (details)

I always have mixed feelings, though ...  particularly when it comes to being immersed in this different type of culture, the one ... many Cape Verdians don't have acess to, irrespective of it being theirs ...

I just felt compelled to walk to Prainha  (the beach I used to go to in 2001) under a blazing sun ... to just confirm that small, quiet, cosy beach was still there ... as if waiting for me ...

Prainha beach (left) and Gamboa beach (Right).

I'll be leaving this afternnon ... and a touch of nostalgia is beginning to catch hold of me ...

It is this magic spell of Plateau and its surroundings, I am sure ...

... But what is not "magic" around here?...  Cape Verde is spell bounding ...

Note: The paintings hanging from the walls of Sofia's Café are by Nelson Lobo (born in1952).