LUUANDA
2019TCHON D’HOLANDA
2017–2019Photographed over a period of 3 years, this project developed through an immersion into an agricultural and human territory that, although small in size, presents enormous complexity and heterogeneity.
The agricultural perimeter named Tchon d’Holanda (meaning “Dutch Land”) is a project of the government of Cape Verde, with funding from the Dutch Cooperation.
The technology behind this initiative was the use of treated wastewater from the sewage plant for the irrigation of vegetables and fruit plants. The introduction of this technology was expected to encourage the extension of the agricultural area in Ribeira de Vinha and mitigate the adverse environmental conditions and water scarcity. In the field, I met dozens of farmers who complained about access to limited amount of water and lack of investment and monitoring in the short, medium and long term. These conditions have resulted in a situation of neglect and isolation, while soil and crops have been continuously deteriorating, affecting the approximately 90 farmers who subsist here very precariously.
Still, whenever I visit my acquaintances there, they always offer me a piece of whatever is growing in their vegetable gardens.
The many seed packets I collected are just an indication of how farmers are held hostage to commercially available seeds in Cape Verde, imported from several western countries and poorly adapted to the local climate, with serious consequences on the impoverishment of local and national genetic and cultural heritage.
In addition to the usual difficulties of subsistence agriculture practiced in Cape Verde, this “enclosed garden” is an example of the typical contradictions of international cooperation, leading to the negligence and marginalization of enormous human capital and a wealth of accumulated knowledge and experience.
Tchon d'Holanda was created with support of Ci.CLO Photography Biennial and was presented in the collective exhibition "Adaptation and Transition" (2019) curated by Virgílio Ferreira.
The agricultural perimeter named Tchon d’Holanda (meaning “Dutch Land”) is a project of the government of Cape Verde, with funding from the Dutch Cooperation.
The technology behind this initiative was the use of treated wastewater from the sewage plant for the irrigation of vegetables and fruit plants. The introduction of this technology was expected to encourage the extension of the agricultural area in Ribeira de Vinha and mitigate the adverse environmental conditions and water scarcity. In the field, I met dozens of farmers who complained about access to limited amount of water and lack of investment and monitoring in the short, medium and long term. These conditions have resulted in a situation of neglect and isolation, while soil and crops have been continuously deteriorating, affecting the approximately 90 farmers who subsist here very precariously.
Still, whenever I visit my acquaintances there, they always offer me a piece of whatever is growing in their vegetable gardens.
The many seed packets I collected are just an indication of how farmers are held hostage to commercially available seeds in Cape Verde, imported from several western countries and poorly adapted to the local climate, with serious consequences on the impoverishment of local and national genetic and cultural heritage.
In addition to the usual difficulties of subsistence agriculture practiced in Cape Verde, this “enclosed garden” is an example of the typical contradictions of international cooperation, leading to the negligence and marginalization of enormous human capital and a wealth of accumulated knowledge and experience.
Tchon d'Holanda was created with support of Ci.CLO Photography Biennial and was presented in the collective exhibition "Adaptation and Transition" (2019) curated by Virgílio Ferreira.
STANDARD DEVIATION
2017–20192017
Inkjet Print on Photo Rag Baryta Paper
50x75cm
Ed. 3 + 2 AP
2017
Inkjet Print on Photo Rag Baryta Paper
50x75cm
Ed. 3 + 2 AP
2019
Inkjet Print on Photo Rag Baryta Paper
50x75cm
Ed. 3 + 2 AP
2017
Inkjet Print on Photo Rag Baryta Paper
90x60cm
Ed. 3 + 2 AP
2019
Inkjet Print on Photo Rag Baryta Paper
50x75cm
Ed. 3 + 2 AP
2019
Inkjet Print on Photo Rag Baryta Paper
50x75cm
Ed. 3 + 2 AP
2017
Inkjet Print on Photo Rag Baryta Paper
50x75cm
Ed. 3 + 2 AP
2017
Inkjet Print on Photo Rag Baryta Paper
50x75cm
Ed. 3 + 2 AP
2017
Inkjet Print on Photo Rag Baryta Paper
50x75cm
Ed. 3 + 2 AP
2017
Inkjet Print on Photo Rag Baryta Paper
90x60cm
Ed. 3 + 2 AP
For Standard Deviation I wanted to examine science’s often colonial stance towards nature, as well as the complications of conducting scientific research in Cabo Verde in a time of global capitalism and neocolonialism.
I approached this project by thinking about science from its positivist perspective and questioning the technical and philosophical devices associated with the scientific method. I looked at science and scientific research as this place where the natural and physical world are comprehensively and obsessively — observed, measured, classified and ordered in the name of surveillance and climate data modelling. Throughout this project, I developed a strong collaboration with both local and international scientists working in Cabo Verde and was able to grasp a tip of the entanglements and contradictions associated with climate change-related scientific research. In the process, I came to understand that error plays a fundamental role in illuminating the path to knowledge and focused my approach on the most humanising and intimate aspects of science, where failure, improvisation and “unimpossibility” are most visible.
Grateful acknowledgement to all researchers involved, in particular: Luís Neves (OACV), Vito Ramos and Elizandro Rodrigues (OSCM), Osvaldina Duarte Silva and Sandra Correia (INDP).
This work was produced in the scope of PARALLEL European Photo Based Platform and presented in the collective exhibitions "Currents Shift" (2019) curated by Jon Uriarte, at the Chateau d’Eau, in Toulouse, France, and "Zeitgeist" (2019) curated by Judit Gellér and Emese Mucsi, at the Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center, in Budapest, Hungary. Solo exhibition curated by Noora Manty, presented at Galeria da Estação, as part of the Encontros da Imagem Photography Festival 2023, in Braga, Portugal.
I approached this project by thinking about science from its positivist perspective and questioning the technical and philosophical devices associated with the scientific method. I looked at science and scientific research as this place where the natural and physical world are comprehensively and obsessively — observed, measured, classified and ordered in the name of surveillance and climate data modelling. Throughout this project, I developed a strong collaboration with both local and international scientists working in Cabo Verde and was able to grasp a tip of the entanglements and contradictions associated with climate change-related scientific research. In the process, I came to understand that error plays a fundamental role in illuminating the path to knowledge and focused my approach on the most humanising and intimate aspects of science, where failure, improvisation and “unimpossibility” are most visible.
Grateful acknowledgement to all researchers involved, in particular: Luís Neves (OACV), Vito Ramos and Elizandro Rodrigues (OSCM), Osvaldina Duarte Silva and Sandra Correia (INDP).
This work was produced in the scope of PARALLEL European Photo Based Platform and presented in the collective exhibitions "Currents Shift" (2019) curated by Jon Uriarte, at the Chateau d’Eau, in Toulouse, France, and "Zeitgeist" (2019) curated by Judit Gellér and Emese Mucsi, at the Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center, in Budapest, Hungary. Solo exhibition curated by Noora Manty, presented at Galeria da Estação, as part of the Encontros da Imagem Photography Festival 2023, in Braga, Portugal.
LISTEN TO THE BARBARIANS
20162016
Inkjet Print on Photo Rag Matt Paper
100x100cm
Ed. 3 + 2 AP
2016
Inkjet Print on Photo Rag Matt Paper
100x100cm
Ed. 3 + 2 AP
2016
Inkjet Print on Photo Rag Matt Paper
100x100cm
Ed. 3 + 2 AP
2016
Inkjet Print on Photo Rag Matt Paper
100x100cm
Ed. 3 + 2 AP
2016
Inkjet Print on Photo Rag Matt Paper
50x50cm
Ed. 3 + 2 AP
2016
Inkjet Print on Photo Rag Matt Paper
50x50cm
Ed. 3 + 2 AP
2016
Inkjet Print on Photo Rag Matt Paper
50x50cm
Ed. 3 + 2 AP
CABRAL KA MORI
2010–2011A production of TEATROMOSCA, Casa de Teatro de Sintra, 2011
Serra Malagueta, Santiago, Cabo Verde, 2011
Fundação Mário Soares, Lisboa, Portugal, 2011
Santa Catarina, Santiago, Cabo Verde, 2011