Viagem de Volta

as Visual Artist

Dec 2011 - Jul 2012

Viagem de Volta intends to narrate the return of Portuguese emigrants from the former colonies in Africa, who, after the independence of these countries, found themselves "expatriated" to their motherland. Known as "retornados," they were the product of a Portugal plunged into the revolutionary chaos of the post-Salazar dictatorship. This piece also aims to address the contemporary issue of what it means to be a global citizen. The departure to the unknown and the return are present in the mystique of Portuguese Sebastianism.

I decided to create an immersive environment for this context, leaving the ambiguity of physical and temporal space to be controlled by the user experiencing the piece. As resources, I used a suitcase that belonged to a "retornado," a friend of mine who came from Guinea-Bissau. The idea of the mist was to convey, in a complex way, the unknown. In this way, I address the issue of the Sebastianist myth, which remains very present in today's social issues.