Living in Mozambique
Women and their invisible burdens
- There are women who walk carrying the world on their heads. Their steps make no sound, yet each footfall holds a story the wind cannot erase. Burdens on their heads, on their shoulders, burdens on their backs and in their memory. They carry the weight of the earth, of water, of silence, and of the obligation to keep going.
- These burdens are not always visible: sometimes they are water containers that are never filled, other times they are words left unspoken, or the promise of a tomorrow that begins to take root between their fingers.
- The burden becomes a symbol—of tireless work, motherhood, violence, tradition, postponed dreams, and inherited responsibilities. Invisible and often unbearable, these burdens become a metaphor for the balancing acts these women perform every day, and for their resilience. Because women, far from breaking, rise. From fatigue, they create song; from wounds, seeds.
- And because life is not made only of weight, I also introduce children playing and running with paper kites.
- These images do not seek to portray hardship, but rather the quiet dignity that inhabits every gesture.
- Because, even under impossible burdens, Mozambican women walk with beauty, create space for hope, and remind us that life, like art, is sustained from the soul.
Inspiration
- During a year and a half in Mozambique, these steps became a daily revelation to me. To express this reality, I moved away from my usual pictoric style .
- In this shift, I reclaim the human figure as a direct vehicle for narrative and emotional impact, without abandoning the chromatic sensitivity that characterizes all my artistic production.
- My aim is for my art to be an instrument of communication to make visible a reality that exists in Mozambique, in Africa, and in the world.
- On April 7th, we celebrate Mozambican Women’s Day. It was truly wonderful to witness such sorority: beautiful women dressed in new capulanas, friends gathering together, raising a toast to themselves and to all women. What an inspiration!
Exhibits and events
Thank you very much to the Embassy of Spain for organizing the debate that helped us understand the reality of Mozambican women. The debate called: "Xidjumbas, the invisible burdens" had the participation of activists Benilde Nhalevilo, Gigliola Zacara, and Quitéria Guirrengane, and will be moderated by activist Jéssica Macamo. Thanks to all!