TCHON D’HOLANDA

2017–2019
72x108cm, Tchon d’Holanda, 2018
72x108cm, Tchon d’Holanda, 2018
120x90cm, Tchon d’Holanda, 2018
72x108cm, Tchon d’Holanda, 2019
72x108cm, Tchon d’Holanda, 2018
120x80cm, Tchon d’Holanda, 2019
30x40cm, Tchon d’Holanda, 2019
30x40cm, Tchon d’Holanda, 2019
30x40cm, Tchon d’Holanda, 2019
30x40cm, Tchon d’Holanda, 2019
30x40cm, Tchon d’Holanda, 2019
30x40cm, Tchon d’Holanda, 2019
30x40cm, Tchon d’Holanda, 2019
30x40cm, Tchon d’Holanda, 2019
Photographed 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.