ROOTS 2024: “Deconstructing Narratives and Myths” Conference and Film Screening

In this panel we bring together a visual artist and a researcher, whose artistic and scientific research projects on the Portuguese colonial past, and in particular on ethnographic missions, allow for other possible readings of historical narratives.

Assistant Professor, FBA, Universidade de Lisboa / Hon. Research Fellow, WCI, Wits University

The presentation will focus on the introduction to a work of art A Tendency to Forget (2015) and the sharing of the collection of research materials that marked the investigation into the life and work of two Portuguese academics who carried out ethnographic research in northern Mozambique during the late 1950s and early 1960s – Jorge and Margot Dias. At the end of the session, we will present the short film that is part of the immersive installation – Adventures in Mozambique and the Portuguese Tendecy to Forget.

PhD student in History and Philosophy of Science / Institute of Contemporary History, University of Évora (IHC-UÉ/IN2PAST)

Presentation of research into campaign objects used during the Portuguese colonial period of the Estado Novo. These utilitarian items, worn out and of no apparent value, often invisible in historical narratives, were nevertheless essential in colonial scientific missions, standing out for their resistance and practicality in adverse environments.