Félix Mula
Mozambique
“I am not concerned with the visible part of ruins, but with what they conceal.”
Mula explores small stories of ordinary people
In the Rubble of Memory
Félix Mula is part of the generation that is born in a territory and context in which, the search for memories in the “shadow zones” of history and reconciliation is still very timid.
The process traverses various stages of transformation - from the liberation struggle to independence, which was accompanied by radical disruptions that questioned all legacies and proposed a “new society”, “a new man” and a new culture (Alda Costa, 2006). The outbreak of the war between Frelimo and Renamo, of indecisive nomenclature - civil war, destabilization war, sixteen years´war - generated new tensions and instabilities, which were attenuated when the General Peace Agreement was signed in Rome, in 1992. The first multi-party elections in Mozambique were held two years later.
Through permanent questioning of this context, Félix Mula reconstitutes his individual memories, using the memories he carries with him, and the experiences he has capturated in the communities nearest to him. He evokes the testimonies of witnesses, in a process that includes elements from his present life, in an intertwoven process that also involves re-inscription and reinvention of the past. The personal archives and testimonies that connect several persons from the family and community, are diluted in the frontier between the real and the imaginary. Félix Mula uses the oral tradition, not only as a vehicle of communication, but also in order to propose alternatives to preserve these memories in contemporary society.
The entire process is strongly marked by the use of photography, with the premise that the object cannot completely substitute the experience that results from artistic work. For this reason, he meticulously inscribes a participatory attitude in his work, through stories that he explores from a vernacular language, in order to insert the debate into pre-established spaces.
In a process with anthropological contours, and without falling into the traps of nationalist particularisms, Mula explores small stories of ordinary people in order to reopen, revive and explore a new form of individual and community bonds, in an increasingly complex world.
Rafael Bordalo Mouzinho
ESTAMPA 2023 art fair, Madrid.
Bilhete de Identidade series
In this series, Félix Mula addresses issues of ethnic identity through hair as the ultimate expression of identification and personal, natural manifestation. The enchantment that defines them is the unique way how they compose and express their hair, in a revolt formed by infinite braids with a similar past. The visual transgression we contemplate, strong and contained, does not gag, does not scream, but… speaks loudly!
BILHETE DE IDENTIDADE, Untitled 1, 2013
Analogue photo. Photography, printed on Aluminium Dibond. Measuring 40 x 40 cm, edition of 3 + 1 artist proof. Measuring 60 x 60 cm, edition of 3 + 1 artist proof. Walnut wood frame, 35 mm depth, 4 mm thickness.
Magoanine verde series
Magoanine Verde started in 2023 as a photographic project - still in process - about the conditions in which some part of the Magoanine “A” neighborhood has been living in recent years, after repeated rainfall. From the initial visits, I decided to document photographically certain areas, every available Thursday.
Magoanine "A" is a suburban neighborhood, located a few kilometers from Maputo City, Capital of Mozambique. Rainwater forced the withdrawal of the inhabitants who, for several decades, have been settling on the banks of what was once a river. From the beginning of the establishment (or restoration) of the rise in water levels, the population demanded compensation from the Government for what had happened. However, after several attempts to study the case, experts came to the conclusion that the waters did not invade people's homes, but only resumed their course and space (habitat).
Félix Mula
Maputo, June 2023
MAGOANINE VERDE, Untitled 5, 2023
Analogue photo. Photography, printed on Aluminium Dibond measuring 60 x 90 cm. Edition of 3 + 1 artist proof. Walnut wood frame, 35 mm depth, 4 mm thickness.