The labor migration of Mozambicans to South Africa dates back to the 1800s, when Mozambique was still a Portuguese colony, and later continued as a way to escape compulsory military recruitment by the Mozambican Armed Forces, and in search for a better life.

Combining historical and present tensions between migration, politics, and the human body as social history, Rampa presents Madjoni-Djoni – Portraits of Mozambican Miners and Families in South Africa, a solo exhibition by Nuno Silas, which critically examines the experience of Mozambican mining migrant communities in South Africa under Apartheid and during the Mozambican revolution up to the post-independence.

The exhibition includes video, large-scale photographs, and drawings, also evoking performative practices such as the traditional Makwayela dance, rooted in southern Mozambique. This dance was created by mine workers and explores the experiences of Mozambicans in South Africa.

Drawing on archival documents and family narratives, the artist explores the potential of documentary photography from the 1960s for the reinterpretation of the past and the construction of decolonial and intersectional narratives. By articulating stories that are both plural and collective, as well as subjective and fragmentary, Silas questions how images and performative practices can contribute both to political imagination and utopia, as well as to the debate on past memories and future speculations.

Parallel Programme

September 19, 4pm
Fines Arts School of the University of Porto (FBAUP), Aula Magna
Artist talk with Nuno Silas, moderated by José Sérgio

October 19, 2024, from 11am to 2pm
RAMPA
Workshop with Simone Amorim
Registration via email: rampacultura@gmail.com

Free entry to all events.