Sculpture: pine, bamboo, slide projection: 190x360x230 cm / 14 images: 29,7×21 cm.
Based on Jorge Ben Jor’s 1974 song which depicts Brazilian slave escapee communities and their settlements Quilombos and their leader ‘Zumbi’ dos Palmares. The song’s lyrics describe the scene of a slave auction, ending with hopeful speculation about what will happen when Zumbi arrives. The refrain “Angola, Congo, Benguela, Monjolo, Cabinda, Mina, Quiloa, Rebolla” evokes the African origins of the slaves up for sale in the song.
In this performance/sculpture wattle and daub is used to construct a fence in front of the image of Portugal’s old slave market building in Lagos, Algarve. The song was performed through the sculpture by Selma Uamusse at ‘Old School’ in Lisbon on the Feb 2016 and can be viewed here:
Images© Vera Marmelo
