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Images of Angola and Mozambique in the Imperial Metropolis: Photographic Exhibitions Held at the Palácio Foz (1938–1960)

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Photography in Portuguese Colonial Africa, 1860–1975

Part of the book series: Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies ((CIPCSS))

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Abstract

This chapter highlights the organisation of photographic exhibitions on African subjects as part of the colonial cultural events organised by Estado Novo (1933–1974), the right-wing dictatorship led by António de Oliveira Salazar. I intend to emphasise the importance of photography in the colonial propaganda. For this, I will analyse the aforementioned thematic exhibitions and the photographs that displayed a set of views of Angola and Mozambique to the metropolis inhabitants presented at Palácio Foz, the headquarters of the Portuguese SPN (Secretariado de Propaganda Nacional) [Secretariat of National Propaganda] (later the name changed to SNI, Secretariado Nacional de Informação [Secretariat of National Information]), created in 1933 and established as the centre of the cultural policy and propaganda of the regime.

Based on an article by Inês Vieira Gomes, “Imagens de Angola e Moçambique na Metrópole. Exposições de Fotografia no Palácio Foz (1938–1960)”, in Filipa Lowndes Vicente (org.). O Império da Visão: fotografia no contexto colonial português 1860–1960 (Lisbon: Edições 70, 2014), pp. 353–365. Text translated by Martin Dale.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    António Ferro. Salazar. (Aveiro: Edições do Templo, 1978), p. 122.

  2. 2.

    On this subject, see in this volume Afonso Dias Ramos. “Images that kill: counterinsurgency and photography in Angola circa 1961”.

  3. 3.

    Article 2 of Decree-Law No. 22,465 of 11 April 1933.

  4. 4.

    José Luís Campos de Lima Garcia. Ideologia e propaganda colonial no Estado Novo: da Agência Geral das Colónias à Agência Geral do Ultramar, 1924–1976. PhD thesis defended at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Coimbra, 2011, p. 123.

  5. 5.

    Ibid., p. 152.

  6. 6.

    National Archive of Torre do Tombo (ANTT), SNI, Box 430.

  7. 7.

    ANTT, SNI, Box 430 and Box 437.

  8. 8.

    Designation attributed by António Sena. História da Imagem Fotográfica em Portugal 1839–1997. (Porto: Porto Editora, 1998), p. 261. See in this volume Cláudia Castelo and Catarina Mateus. “Ethnographic Album of Angola”.

  9. 9.

    It is possible to find parallels with the photographs of José Augusto Cunha Moraes (1855–1933). In the late 1870s and the early 1880s, Cunha Moraes recorded different aspects of the cities, towns, customs and landscapes of Angola in an anthropological, documentary and ethnographic record. His photographs were included in the four volumes of the album, África Occidental, Album Photographico e Descriptivo, edited by David Corazzi, published in Portugal between 1885 and 1889, and nowadays considered to be one of the most important Portuguese albums of photographs taken in Africa. On the subject, see: Jill Dias. “Photographic Sources for the History of Portuguese Speaking Africa, 1870–1914”: History of Africa, 18 (1991), pp. 67–82; António Pedro Vicente and Nicolas Monti. Cunha Moraes. Viagens em Angola. 1877-1897. (Coimbra: Encontros de Fotografia de Coimbra, 1991); Maria de Fátima de Sá Guerra Marques Pereira. Casa Fotografia Moraes. A Modernidade Fotográfica na Obra dos Cunha Moraes. Master’s thesis presented at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Porto, 2001.

  10. 10.

    Elmano Cunha e Costa. Alguns aspectos de estudos etnográficos, attached leaflet to nr. 220 of the Boletim da Agência Geral das Colónias. (Lisbon: Agência Geral das Colónias, 1943), p. 12.

  11. 11.

    On this subject: Inês Ponte, Unpublished stories: photography, archives and perceptions regarding the missionary Carlos Estermann in Angola in the 1960s (in this volume); Inês Vieira Gomes, “Álbum de Penteados do Sudoeste deAngola”/“Southwest Angola Hairstyles Album” in Filomena Serra (ed.). Fotografia Impressa e Propaganda em Portugal no Estado Novo/Printed Photography and Propaganda in the Portuguese Estado Novo. (Gijón: Muga, 2021), pp. 212–213; pp. 355–356.

  12. 12.

    For example, the artist Júlio de Sousa illustrated texts and magazines by Maria Lamas, including the illustration on the cover of the author’s novel Para Além do Amor. (Lisbon: Editorial O Século, 1935).

  13. 13.

    Carlos Estermann. Etnografia do Sudoeste de Angola. Memórias. Série Antropológica e Etnológica, Vol. I. (Lisbon: Junta de Investigações do Ultramar, 1956), p. 10.

  14. 14.

    Costa, Ibid., 1943, pp. 12–13.

  15. 15.

    Catálogo da Exposição de Etnografia Angolana—Agência Geral das Colónias; documentário etnográfico, carta etnográfica e legendas da autoria do Dr. Elmano Cunha e Costa. [Catalogue of the Angolan Ethnography Exhibition—General Agency of the Colonies; ethnographic documentary, ethnographic letters and captions by Dr. Elmano Cunha e Costa]. (Lisbon: SNI, 1946), s/p.

  16. 16.

    Newspaper O Lobito, ‘Exposições de Estudos Etnográficos’, 10 April 1937, pp. 1; 4. Consultation of newspapers published in Angola was crucial to profiling this exhibition. When I wrote the original article in 2013, I did not have any reference to the exhibition held in Benguela, an exhibition that pioneered those that later took place in Portugal.

  17. 17.

    The album should have been published in ten volumes with photographs from the “Photographic Mission to Angola”. Father Carlos Estermann stated that the album should include a bilingual text—Portuguese and French—and photo captions in four languages: Portuguese, French, English and German. Estermann, Ibid., 1956, p. 10. It should be noted, however, that dozens of photographs taken by Elmano Cunha e Costa were reproduced in the work by Mendes Correia. Raças do Império. (Porto: Portucalense Editora, 1943).

  18. 18.

    Carlos Estermann. Álbum de Penteados do Sudoeste de Angola. (Lisbon: Junta de Investigações do Ultramar, 1960), p. 6. Carlos Estermann was placed in Mission in the Cuanhama and later in Huíla. From 1928, he collaborated with Anthropos magazine and wrote a set of monographs. Key examples include: Etnografia do Sudoeste de Angola, Volumes I–III (Lisbon: Junta de Investigações do Ultramar, 1956–1961); Penteados, adornos e trabalhos das muílas. (Lisbon: Junta de Investigações do Ultramar, 1970); A vida económica dos Bantos do Sudoeste de Angola. (Luanda: Junta Provincial de Povoamento de Angola, 1971).

  19. 19.

    This idea was explored by Emília Tavares: the access to the sights of far places or not so distant places, constitutes possible propaganda for the most favoured people, and dream locations for less fortunate people. In this way an inventory is created that becomes almost a matrix, whatever the place to be photographed, that seeks to fulfil the main objectives—to be seen as places of exception and evasion. Emília Tavares. “A Fotografia dos Lugares”, in Cadernos de Fotografia. (Figueira da Foz: Frederica João, 2010), p. 26.

  20. 20.

    Newspaper O Século, “O Chefe do Estado inaugurou ontem uma notável exposição de fotografias de Angola no Secretariado da Propaganda Nacional” [The Head of State inaugurated yesterday a remarkable exhibition of photographs of Angola in the Secretariat of National Propaganda], 5 July, 1938, p. 1.

  21. 21.

    Newspaper Diário de Notícias, “Exposição de fotografias sobre motivos de Angola” [Exhibition of photographs on motifs from Angola], 3 July 1938, p. 2. The 1938 exhibition was part of a relatively recent movement of photographic exhibitions in Portugal. In 1930 the 1st Exhibition of Independents was held, the first art exhibition held in Portugal to include photography. The Photographic Section of the 1st Exhibition of Independents was attended by the photographer Mário Novais and two writers—Branquinho da Fonseca and Edmundo Bettencourt: Emília Tavares. “Hibridismo e Superação: A Fotografia e o Modernismo Português”, in Arte Portuguesa do Século XX 1910–1960. (Lisbon: Leya/MNAC-MC, 2011), p. 130.

  22. 22.

    Magazine Objectiva, “Exposição de fotografias do dr. Elmano Cunha e Costa” [Exhibition of photographs by Dr. Elmano Cunha e Costa], no 15, August 1938, p. 38.

  23. 23.

    Newspaper Diário da Manhã, “Exposição de fotografias de Angola” [Exhibition of photographs of Angola], 5 July 1938, p. 1. This information could not be confirmed because the catalogue of the Angola Fair-Exhibition lists the materials displayed, by pavilions of the different regions of Angola, but without the titles of the works and respective author’s identification. See the catalogue: Álbum Comemorativo da Exposição-Feira de Angola [Commemorative Album of the Angola Fair-Exhibition]. (Luanda: Imprensa Nacional de Angola, 1938). Also, dated 1938, dispatch by the Lisbon Administration of the first objects constituted by a collection of photographs from the album of the Expedition to Muantianvua, coordinated by Henrique de Carvalho between 1884 and 1888 in Angola, to be shown in the Historic Room of the Dundo Museum under the jurisdiction of DIAMANG (Diamond Company of Angola). Nuno Porto. “Under the Gaze of the Ancestors—Photographs and performance in Colonial Angola”, in Elizabeth Edwards and Janice Hart (eds.). Photographs, Objects, Histories. (London & New York: Routledge, 2004), p. 117.

  24. 24.

    Catálogo da Exposição de Etnografia Angolana. (Lisbon: SNI, 1946), s/p. The author refers to the book by José de Oliveira Ferreira Diniz. Populações Indígenas de Angola. (Coimbra: Imprensa da Universidade, 1918).

  25. 25.

    The design of this exhibition is not unprecedented, and this exhibition scheme is recurrent in exhibitions of colonial photography. See, for example, an aspect of the photographs exhibited at the 1931 Paris Colonial Exposition, recalling the planning of a photographic album, in Christraud M. Geary (ed.). In and Out of Focus. Images from Central Africa, 1885–1960. (National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. London: Philip Wilson Publishers, 2002), p. 67.

  26. 26.

    The Exhibition of Angolan Ethnography was presented in 1947 in the festive salons of the Coliseu of Porto and its opening included a speech by Elmano Cunha e Costa. ANTT, SNI, Box 2653, Letter from the General Agency of the Colonies, dated 15 April 1947.

  27. 27.

    Newspaper Diário da Manhã, “Lisboa terá uma verdadeira surpresa dentro de dias ao conhecer os adornos e os artísticos penteados das indígenas de Angola” [Lisbon will have a real surprise within days when it learns about adornments and the artistic hairstyles of the natives of Angola], 19 February 1951, pp. 1 and 6. After this exhibition, Elmano Cunha e Costa collaborated between 1951 and 1954 in the revision of the Photographic Archive of the SNI and in the elaboration of the expedition files of the same organisation. ANTT, SNI, Box 1352, Box 1643 and Box 173.

  28. 28.

    Newspaper Novidades, “Vai abrir em breve no S.N.I. uma exposição de penteados africanos” [An exhibition of African hairstyles will open soon in the S.N.I.], 19 February 1951; Newspaper A Defesa, “No S.N.I. uma Exposição de Penteados Africanos” [An exhibition of African hairstyles in the S.N.I.], 20 February 1951.

  29. 29.

    Newspaper O Século, “Vão ver como se penteiam e adornam as beldades da província de Angola na exposição que, por iniciativa da Agência-Geral das Colónias, se inaugura, esta tarde, no Secretariado Nacional de Informação” [They will see how they the beauties of the province of Angola dress and adorn themselves, in the exhibition that, on the initiative of the General Agency of the Colonies, will be inaugurated this afternoon in the National Secretariat of Information], 3 March 1951, p. 1.

  30. 30.

    On this subject, see, for example, the newspaper O Século: “Os pretos da Guiné estão sendo alvo duma curiosidade, que exige a intervenção enérgica da Polícia” [Guinean blacks are being the target of a curiosity that requires the energetic intervention of the Police], 17 September 1932, p. 3; “A Grande Exposição Industrial Portuguesa” [The Great Portuguese Industrial Exhibition], 25 September 1932, p. 3.

  31. 31.

    Catálogo da Exposição de Etnografia Angolana, Ibid., 1946, s/p.

  32. 32.

    The author is grateful for the availability of António Sopa and his clarifications on the Casa de Metrópole de Moçambique.

  33. 33.

    “Exposição Moçambique pela Imagem. Grande Repercussão na imprensa metropolitana do documentário fotográfico de Moçambique” [Exhibition Mozambique in Images. Great Repercussion on the metropolitan press of the documentary photographs of Mozambique], Newspaper O Oriente, Lourenço Marques, 16 September 1950, pp. 1 e 3, p. 3.

  34. 34.

    Boletim da Agência Geral das Colónias, vol. XXVI, no. 302–303, August–September 1950, p. 167. According to Garcia, the General Agency of the Colonies had only one film in 1932, and in a few months it had 40 films, with support from the Ministry of Colonies, the General Government of Mozambique, the Commissariat of the Paris Exhibition and the Army photographic services. Garcia, Ibid., 2011, p. 135.

  35. 35.

    “Exposição Moçambique pela Imagem. Grande Repercussão na imprensa metropolitana do documentário fotográfico de Moçambique”. Newspaper O Oriente, Lourenço Marques, 16 September 1950, p. 3.

  36. 36.

    In this exhibition, the photographs were grouped into the following categories: Landscapes, Flora and Fauna (21 photos); Ethnography (55 photos); Bridges and Roads (32 photos); Types of Residences and Neighbourhoods (27 photos); Ports and Navigation (30 photos); Transport (18 photos); Factories, Mines, Companies, Companies, Societies, etc. (15 photos); Agriculture, Hydraulics and Livestock (27 photos); Churches and Missions (15 photos); Health Services (18 photos); Primary Schools, High Schools and Museums (13 photos); Mocidade Portuguesa and Sports (22 photos); Cities and Towns (31 photos); Social Life (5 photos); Today’s Monuments and Vestiges of the Past (18 photos).

  37. 37.

    João Augusto Silva published other books: Animais Selvagens: contribuição para o estudo da fauna de Moçambique [Wild Animals: contribution to the study of the fauna of Mozambique], published in 1956 with drawings and photographs by the author; Gorongosa: Experiências de um Caçador de Imagens [Gorongosa: Experiences of an Image Hunter], 1964; Selva Maravilhosa: Histórias de Homens e Bichos [Marvellous Jungle: Stories of Men and Animals], 1965, a novel based on the Mozambican oral tradition, republished in 1971 and with illustrations by José Antunes; and Contribuição para o estudo bioecológico da Palanca Real (Hippotrgus Niger Variani) [Contribution to the biocological study of Palanca Real (Hippotrgus Niger Variani)]. (Lisbon: Junta de Investigações do Ultramar, 1972). In 1977, already as curator of the Lisbon Zoo, he published the practical guide of this institution. More recently, in 2013, he published the book Atlântida. Romance de D. Salomé e outras histórias. Histórias e contos da Guiné, Angola e Moçambique [Atlântida. Novel of D. Salomé and other stories. Stories and tales from Guinea, Angola and Mozambique]. (Lisbon: Edições Vieira da Silva, 2013), authored by João Augusto Silva and with the reproduction of some photographs and drawings by the author. On 3 May 2013, the Lisbon Geographic Society organised a symposium honouring João Augusto Silva on his different achievements and contributions.

  38. 38.

    Gorongosa: paraíso dos animais selvagens. (Lisbon: SNI, 1960).

  39. 39.

    Sontag emphasises the common lexicon: loading; aiming, and shooting. Susan Sontag. On Photography. (London: Penguin, 1979), p. 14. The proximity between photographic practice and the use of weapons goes back to the nineteenth century. The English photographer Samuel Bourne (1834–1912), who photographed intensively in India, wrote in 1863 about the power of photography and referred to the inventors of photography also as inventors of arms. Vidya Dehejia. “Fixing a Shadow”, in India through the lens. Photography 1840–1911. (Washington D.C.: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery; Smithsonian Institution, 2000), p. 21.

  40. 40.

    João Augusto Silva. Animais Selvagens—contribuição para o estudo da fauna de Moçambique [Wild Animals—contribution to the study of the fauna of Mozambique]. (Lourenço Marques: Imprensa Nacional de Moçambique, 1956), p. 16.

  41. 41.

    In the subsequent 15 years (1960–1975) Gorongosa National Park was visited by several celebrities who according to the Park’s own website included: John Wayne (actor), Joan Crawford (actress), Gregory Peck (actor), James Lovell (astronaut), Tippi Hedren (actress) and James Michener (writer).

  42. 42.

    Katie Mckeown. “‘A once & future Eden’. Gorongosa National Park & the making of Mozambique”, in Richard Voks (ed.) Photography in Africa. Ethnographic Perspectives. (Woodbridge, Suffolk: James Currey, 2012), p. 166.

  43. 43.

    The lessons of the “I Course of Cultural Extension” were entrusted to: Vitorino Nemésio (Portuguese Language and Literature); Orlando Ribeiro (Geography of Portuguese Expansion); Delfim Santos (Pedagogy); Almeida Lima (Neurology); Lopes de Andrade (Ophthalmology); Flávio Resende (Natural Sciences); Torre da Assunção (Mineralogy); Almeida Ribeiro (Pharmacy); Jacinto Nunes (Economic and Financial Sciences); Adrião Segurado (Mechanics of the reactors of atoms); Marcelo Caetano (Political Law and Paulo Cunha (Proved Right). Newspaper Diário de Notícias, “Comemorações Henriquinas”, September 14, 1960, p.1. Other authors wrote about Gorongosa. In 1964, a monograph by José Maria d’Eça de Queiroz was published, entitled Santuário Bravio: os animais surpreendentes da Gorongosa e Safaris em Moçambique/Wild Sanctuary: the astonishing animals of Gorongosa and Safaris in Mozambique (Lisbon: Empresa Nacional de Publicidade, 1964). In 1969, the novel Fim de semana na Gorongosa: romance de aventuras [Weekend in Gorongosa: novel of adventures] was published, by the Portuguese writer Fernanda de Castro (1900–1994) and with illustrations by Inês Guerreiro. This author had already published another children’s novel on colonial issues: Mariazinha em África: romance para meninos [Little Maria in Africa: a novel for young children], with illustrations by the painter, Sarah Affonso, published in 1925.

  44. 44.

    Newspaper Diário de Notícias, “Exposições de Arte. Fotografias de João Augusto Silva no Palácio Foz” [Art exhibitions. Photographs of João Augusto Silva in the Foz Palace], 25 October 1960, p. 7.

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  1. Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Inês Vieira Gomes

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  1. Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Filipa Lowndes Vicente

  2. Art History Institute (NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST), Lisbon, Portugal

    Afonso Dias Ramos

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Gomes, I.V. (2023). Images of Angola and Mozambique in the Imperial Metropolis: Photographic Exhibitions Held at the Palácio Foz (1938–1960). In: Vicente, F.L., Ramos, A.D. (eds) Photography in Portuguese Colonial Africa, 1860–1975. Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27795-5_10

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