DÁ FALA

The next Contemporary and Historical Archaeology in Theory meeting will be held in Lisbon on November 10-12, 2022. But why Lisbon?

Many archaeologists have been engaging with current debates on the decolonization of the discipline. However, very little has been said about the impact of these discussions in the field of historical and contemporary archaeology.

Is the decolonial movement changing the kinds of questions we ask? Our methods? There’s a lot to talk about and some of us will certainly bring it up in Lisbon.

Lisbon is one of the largest open-air museums of colonialism in Europe. Every corner will remind you of a past that is not past yet in the shape of a statue, a tropical tree, a pastry shop, a street name honoring some conqueror.

Like in many other towns across the continent, coloniality lingers on the streets, is embedded in our things, and shapes everyone’s lives. Many of us are questioning this state of affairs. No surprises here. Can we archaeologists do anything about this?

The event’s image was inspired by a story that tells a lot about contemporary discussions on the legacies of colonialism. In 2017, the city got a new statue honoring Jesuit António Vieira, known for his missionary work in Brazil and his eloquent sermons. Vieira was also known for standing up against the enslavement of Brazil’s indigenous communities while supporting the enslavement of Africans.

Statue of António Vieira. Photo by Rui Gaudêncio (Municipality of Lisbon)

Do you wonder why would anyone think of doing a statue like this in the 21st century? Many people asked the same. The statue became a focus point for decolonial demonstrations as soon as it was built. Right-wing extremists responded by occupying the plaza and threatening protesters.

More recently, an anonymous artist graffitied the statue with the word “Descoloniza” (Decolonize), painted hearts on the indigenous kids, and sprayed the priest’s body as if he was stained with blood.

The statue of António Vieira in 2020. Photo by Paulo Lourenço (Jornal de Notícias)

The graffiti were quickly cleaned. Yet, the artist’s powerful message stayed with us and inspired Nikola Krizanac to create this image for the CHAT conference.

Hope you’ll feel inspired too, and join us in Lisbon in November!

More informations here.

A participação no programa está condicionada a inscrição através do e-mail: miraforum@miragalerias.net
A entrada no debate está limitada à lotação máxima, tendo prioridade os participantes no percurso pedonal.

PROGRAMA:

14h00/ Percurso pedonal tem ponto de encontro na entrada dos Jardins do Palácio de Cristal. Termina no MIRA FORUM onde se realiza o debate “Decolonising the City”. 

Este evento é composto por um percurso pedonal organizado pelo colectivo InterStruct, com duração aproximada de duas horas e meia. O percurso será guiado e animado por Desirée Desmarattes e Natasha Vijay. O percurso antecede o debate no MIRA FORUM. 

Debate organizado e moderado por Ana Jara e Miguel Cardina, com a participação de Desirée Desmarattes, Dori Nigro, Marta Lança e Paulo Moreira.

PERCURSO:

O percurso é da responsabilidade do colletivo InterStruct. Visa unir experiências pessoais, memórias coletivas e relíquias do colonialismo, oferecendo uma nova visão que nos permite examinar as raízes do preconceito individual e dos sistemas de opressão.

Propõe-se uma caminhada performativa como forma de ativismo que aborda a falta de atenção, reconhecimento e revisão das narrativas e ideologias colonialistas que circulam na sociedade portuguesa.

DEBATE:

O debate “DESCOLONIZAR A CIDADE” tem por objetivo problematizar a persistência de estruturas e imaginários coloniais no espaço público em Portugal. Partindo do lugar social e político da arquitetura, o debate pretende analisar de que forma o corpo da(s) cidade(s) mantém lógicas de (re)produção de representações coloniais, modos de segregação socio-espacial e hierarquias - ora vincadas, ora subtis - nas quais ainda reverberam dicotomias como as de centro e periferia, metrópole e colónias, norte e sul.

Essa perspetiva diacrónica sobre a cidade e os desafios de a descolonizar irrompe a partir de um presente onde se torna fundamental aprofundar as discussões sobre o racismo, a violência policial e as desigualdades, ou sobre as pertenças, migrações e diásporas, e que aponta necessariamente para um futuro no qual o Direito à Cidade se assume como um emergente horizonte de cidadania.

Evento integrado na 17ª Representação Oficial Portuguesa na Bienal de Arquitectura de Veneza. Comissariado pela Direção-Geral das Artes.

EN
Participation is subject to prior registration by e-mail: miraforum@galerias.net 
Entrance to the debate is limited to a maximum capacity and participants of the walking tour will have priority.

14h00 / Walking tour beginning at the main entrance of Jardins do Palácio de Cristal finishing at MIRA FORUM, for the debate part.

This event consists of a walking tour organised by the InterStruct collective, lasting approximately two and a half hours. The walk will be guided by Desirée Desmarattes and Natasha Vijay. The tour is followed by a debate taking place at MIRA FORUM. 

Debate organised and moderated by Ana Jara and Miguel Cardina, with the participation of Desirée Desmarattes, Dori Nigro, Marta Lança and Paulo Moreira.

Walking tour:
Joining personal contemporaneous experiences, collective memories and relics of colonialism to its wider historical context can offer new insight and enable us to examine the root causes of individual prejudice and systems of oppression. We propose a performative walking tour as a form of activism that addresses the lack of attention, acknowledgement and revision of colonialist narratives and ideologies that circulate Portuguese society.

The ‘Decolonising the City’ debate aims to question the persistence of colonial structures and mentalities in the public sphere in Portugal. Starting from architecture’s social and political place, the debate is intended to analyse how the form of cities continues to (re)produce colonial representations, modes of social and spatial segregation and hierarchies - both clear and subtle - which are still abuzz with dichotomies such as centre and periphery, metropolis and colonies, north and south.

This diachronic view of the city and the challenges of decolonising it arises at a time when it is essential to discuss racism, policy violence and inequality on a deeper level, as well as to consider issues of belonging, migration and diasporas, and which also points to a future in which the Right to the City is an emerging horizon for citizenship.

Event part of the 17th Portuguese Official Representation at the Venice Architecture Biennale. Commissioned by Direção-Geral das Artes.

by Anja Mutic

It’s a quiet night at En’Clave. As I savour a hearty meal of kalulu — a fish and spinach stew from the island nation of Sao Tome and Principe — and slowly sip on a shot of grog — potent rum from Cape Verde — a hefty man sings a soulful morna ballad with a backdrop of two guitars. It could be a tropical night on an African square, but instead I am at an African basement restaurant in Portugal’s capital city.

It was perhaps my own immigrant experience that made me decide to look for Africa in Lisbon. The story reaches as far back as the 15th century, when Prince Henry the Navigator sailed out into the Atlantic to explore the outlying islands and the coast of Africa. What followed was an epoch of trading in spices, gold and slaves.

By the early 19th century, Portugal ruled several African outposts and only released its harsh grip with the collapse of the Salazar dictatorship in 1974. Soon after, immigrants from the newly independent nations of Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) Africa — Mozambique, Angola, Sao Tome and Principe, Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau — flooded Lisbon, looking for a better life. Entire African suburbs were born, like Buraka in Amadora and Vale da Amoreira in Moita, and Lisbon’s cultural and ethnic tapestry changed.

A few decades later, I am strolling through Largo de Sao Domingos, a small square at the heart of Lisbon where the city’s mainly male African population stands around chatting. I walk up Calcada do Garcia then Rua do Arco da Graca, and among the African stores and barbershops, I stumble upon a restaurant advertising African food. I sit down with my Slovak friend — the only other white European in the house — to a delicious plate of fish with fried bananas and rice. If I had to guess where I was, I’d say — Maputo? Luanda? Praia?

Near the river in Alcantara, the city’s stylish African restaurant-bar Casa da Morna draws a more mixed crowd. Owned by famous singer-songwriter Tito Paris from Cape Verde, this dimly lit space serves up live music and Europeanized versions of African dishes. Paris was away the night I visited, so my prawn moqueca, an Afro-Brazilian seafood stew, was paired with sad-tinged morna songs performed by a duet of voice and guitar.

Rumour has it Paris, who performs here regularly, is a treat to catch, as are other Afro-Portuguese performers who play anything from upbeat funana dance songs to drum-heavy batuku popularized by the young Cape Verdean Lisbon-born singer Lura.