São Vicente to Santiago to Luanda

Tud dret?

I spent nearly three months in São Vicente, Santo Antão, and Santiago— three different islands of Cabo Verde. I learned so much about this gorgeous country's unique history and met a diverse array of educators, artists, and friends.

I deliberately planned my Watson year to line up with São Vicente’s Carnaval, the most Brazilian-influenced and biggest celebration in Cabo Verde. The extreme pride, vibrant colors, and energy were spectacular and I loved seeing the whole island come together. Samba also visited me and took many videos of the Mandinga parade which is a celebration that pays homage to the tribe from West Africa. Participants paint themselves black, wear traditional tribal clothing, and march through the periphery of the city every Sunday after New Year’s until the end of Carnaval.

According to Portuguese history, Cabo Verde was uninhabited until colonial times which provides some key context to understanding the Mandinga parade and the country’s culture. I had the chance to visit the first inhabited settlement of Cabo Verde in Cidade Velha, Santiago. This city was haunting and I still can’t fully process how much history is packed into one small town. For example, I saw the oldest colonial church in the world as well as a large fort, Forte Real de São Filipe, constructed in the early 16th century. Cabo Verde’s specific geography in the middle of the ocean yet close enough to mainland West Africa played a crucial role during the Atlantic slave trade and I’ve come to understand how important this country is to advance the global discourse on decolonization.

Little did the Portuguese know that a resilient, mixed, and fascinating culture would emerge on these 10 small islands. Each island has its own Criolo dialect and big cultural differences. Mindelo, São Vicente is known as the cultural capital and was the last island to be inhabited while Praia, Santiago is known for its movement and financial capital. I’ve loved getting to know them both and the types of art spaces that they have to offer.

One creative space that I fell in love with was Bombu Mininu in Mindelo, São Vicente run by power couple, Antonio Tavares and Miriam Simas. Their artist hub/collective/cafe brings the discourse of decolonization and a positive representation of Cabo Verdean culture to the forefront. Bombu Mininu hosts local and diasporic artists for poetry readings, dance showcases, performance art, live music, and really anything else that you want to bring to the space. The space’s flexibility and freedom truly embody the artistic spirit of Cabo Verde where spontaneity and community are key. Below is a short live video I took of a talented group of friends and their Monday night jam session in Bombu Mininu.

I also had the pleasure of staying in Miriam and Antonio’s home which taught me a lot about the power of decolonization as a dinner table topic. I overheard many stories about the fight for independence, Cesaria Evora and her feminist spirit, as well as their ideas for the future of Bombu Mininu becoming a residency program and radical education project. I now see the necessity for decolonization as an everyday conversation, especially within intimate domestic spaces.

Throughout my time in Cabo Verde, I also eventually started to understand more about why I chose to continue to learn Portuguese. Nearly every day people ask me why Portuguese. Huh? An American girl learning Portuguese? Now, I feel like I have a more concrete answer rather than just Brazilian music. I think that before embarking on this fellowship, the Portuguese language was a way for me to learn intensively and be somewhere new. On top of this, I realize that there is also a greater necessity to learn about this linguistic world and history in order to move forward in the fight for decolonization worldwide— internally and spatially.

In the U.S., there is a lot of discourse and real-life examples of how the legacy of slavery persists and contributes to inequality. The Portuguese colonial empire and its hold in Cabo Verde are a great part of what fueled this crime against humanity that continues to inform a lot of inequality in the modern world. Therefore, understanding even a sliver of these islands as well as Criolo and Portuguese is more important to everyone’s future than you would think. I believe that a deeper understanding of Portugal’s colonial legacy also helped me reflect on my country’s ongoing imperial efforts and colonial legacy. Similarly to creating successful artistic spaces, you need to study other revolutions and histories in order to find new strategies on how to build and move forward.

My project started to veer more toward the intricacies and nuance of Cabo Verde’s history because I believe that it is what informs the artistic landscape and the artistic landscape is what then creates transformation. Does this make sense? I am maybe rambling a bit, but truly I can see the global connections here! And I am looking forward to developing my ideas even further.

I feel so grateful for my several months in Cabo Verde and I will hopefully share more of the lessons that I’ve learned about life, art, and politics. I have not yet reached any specific strategies or conclusions when it comes to decolonizing spatially within the arts, but I hope that the examples that I present can be of some use to artists and leaders and people can learn and apply what works best for them.

Side note—many of my best memories in Cabo Verde were also marked with local music so here is a playlist for you all to enjoy.

Next, I am headed to Luanda, Angola. I am thrilled and nervous. I don’t know many people there, but the beauty of this journey has been all the people I’ve met on a whim and the unexpected lessons they’ve taught me. I started learning Kizomba, an Angolan social dance, in Praia and now I can’t wait to see the maestros in Luanda and probably step on many people’s toes. I am not a dancer, but I am trying.

I would love to hear any further thoughts or questions!! Miss you all! And of course, I am ending this update with my one second of the day in Cabo Verde :) Beijos <3