Portuguese president decorates Mozambican artists

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Portuguese president decorates Mozambican artists

1:27 CAT | 06 May 2016

O País / From left to right: Moreira Chonguiça, Dilon Djindji, Kika Materula, Portuguese president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Stella Mendonça and Stweart Sukuma.

Portuguese president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has awarded several Mozambican artists the Degree of Official of the Order of Merit of Portugal.

The decorations went to Stewart Sukuma, as exponent of the popular marrabenta style; Moreira Chonguiça, for recreating the old Mozambican traditions in jazz; Stella Mendonça, for promoting lyric singing in Mozambique; Kika Materula, for the Xiquitsi project; and to the legendary Mozambican musician Dilon Djindji, for having helped create the marrabenta style and for his lifetime’s dedication to music.

“With the award of these decorations, I thank them on behalf of my generation and the generations that preceded me,” President de Sousa said.

Or as a writer in O País puts it today, we may say that art and culture are a reflection of the DNA of a people, and to value art and cultural is to pay tribute to that same people.

The words of Portuguese president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, were not exactly those, but they reflect the special affection the statesman has for arts and culture. As the president said, the cultural prestige of a nation brings respect and affection, and “the men and women of this country who have dedicated their lives to the most diverse fields of artistic and cultural expression contribute to raise the Mozambique flag high and enrich those who know them”.

“As everyone knows, I love this country deeply. In fact, I have said, which is almost politically incorrect, that this country is my second home. I feel at home here. The people, the smells, the sights, the feelings, the buildings, everything. And many factors have contributed to my affection towards Mozambique. My relationship of affection and respect for Mozambique would not be the same if I had not met one of my best friends, master Malangatana, here; without the poems of Craveirinha, another great friend; Rui Knopfli or Eduardo White.

“My own identity would not be the same if I had not read “Nós Matámso o Cão Tinhoso” by Luis Bernardo Honwana, “Terra Sonâmbula” by Mia Couto and “Balada de Amor ao Vento” by Paulina Chiziane. The timbilla players in Zavala, South, Xigubo and Tudo, Mozambique Island have also contributed to my joy in life,” the Portuguese president confessed.

Neither did he neglect to mention the visual arts.

“My attention to detail and aesthetic sense were developed, I have often said, through contact with Malangatana paintings, of which I bought the first in 1969, and with the works of Bertina Lopes, Idasse, Chichorro, Chissano and more recently Goncalo Mabunda. Whenever I come to Mozambique to attend performances by the National Song and Dance Company, I try to enjoy performances by actors like Lucrécia Paco, Ana Magaia, Adelino Branquinho and Gilberto Mendes.

“An important part of what I am was shaped by writers, actors, musicians and photographers from Mozambique. So I did could miss this opportunity to meet with the men and women of culture and tell them how important they are to me and to the enrichment and cultural diversity of all the Portuguese.”

Source: O País