YASSMIN FORTE : This is a story about my family
My parents fell in love on a dance floor in Quelimane, Mozambique.
He was stationed at the height of the Portuguese occupation of Mozambique, part of the armed forces, and my mother was a local Mozambican woman.
He was destined to return to Portugal.
With independence in 1975, the Frelimo Party (The Front for the Liberation of Mozambique) ordered the Portuguese to leave the country within 24 hours.
He stayed and fell in love.
My images attempt to dissect and navigate the effects of colonialism and migration from my family's history. It addresses three aspects, family, migration and the story of Africans, using family archives and my images. I attempt to investigate how Africans have become the result of mixtures, migrations and colonisation, histories mixed and patterns repeated, and in this way, unpack my own African identity.
The collage exaggerates and emphasises this history; at times, family images are placed on top of the scenes from modern and remembered Mozambique in juxtaposing past and present. I used collage to construct a past and the perception of my own identity.
Yassmin Forte was born in 1980 in Quelimane, Zambézia, and has lived in Maputo since 1986. She has a degree in Communication Sciences, Public Relations and Journalism at Instituto Superior Politécnico e Universitário (ISPU) in Maputo. With 11 years of professional experience in Mozambique, Portugal, Cape Verde and Brazil, in urban and rural contexts, Forte is passionate about art and cultural diversity. Solo exhibitions include On the Stage and In Stage 1 at BCI Mediateca, Mulheres com Pinta at Livraria Minerva and Kinani at Galeria INATEL Porto. She has participated in several collective exhibitions and photography workshops over the last 8 years, and curated the UN Women Photography Contest at the Franco-Mozambican Cultural Center in Maputo/Mozambique, and Homage to Jorge Almeida (in collaboration with photographer Filipe Branquinho ) at the Franco-Mozambican Cultural Centre, Maputo/Mozambique,"Olhar da Rapariga", Photography Workshop that resulted in an Exhibition in Maputo and Marracuene, Mozambique; Photography Contests "PhotoVoice - Women and Security in Times of Covid 19" by Young Women Leaders, Maputo, Mozambique; Photo Contests "European Union and Mozambique Together"/In Celebration of Europe Week, Maputo, Mozambique; Participated in 3 Artistic Residencies, Catchupa Factory Artist Residencies (New Photographers)- Cape Verde, Gineceu/Legado (Women's Residency) - Maputo, Up Cycle (Audio visual Creative Residency) - Maputo
