Posted
on November 10, 2014
Today
we celebrate the City of Acacias...
...the
Pearl of the Indian Ocean...
...the
capital and largest city in Mozambique...
...Maputo!
Maputo
used to be named Lourenço
Marques, after the Portuguese navigator who explored Mozambique in
1544. When the African nation became independent of Portugal in 1975,
not just the city, but also most of the city streets were renamed.
The old names were Portuguese heroes and dates important in
Portuguese history, and the new names were African languages,
revolutionary figures, or pre-colonial names. Most people expected
the capital to be named Can Phumo, after a leader in the area before
Marques arrived, but instead the capital was named after the Maputo
River.
Unfortunately,
like many nations, the post-colonial years were extremely tough and
included a civil war as varying factions fought for power. However,
the area has been pretty stable for more than twenty years now.
One
of the important ways that the nation has reached stability and
reconciliation is through art. The Associação
Núcleo de Arte is a collective of artists that
puts on art shows and exchanges with artists from around the world.
Some of the artists in this collective transformed weapons into tools
and objects of art. The resulting pieces have been displayed in
various museums around the world. |
| The Tree of Life is created out of old weapons, as you can see in the close ups of the trunk and a bird, below: |
Here are some of the other wonderful things about Maputo:
- Painter Malangatana Valente Ngwenya
- Sculptor Alberto Chissano
- the CFM Railway Station
- the Central Market
- Inhaca Island and its coral reefs
Also
on this date:
Plan
ahead:
Check
out my Pinterest boards for:
And
here are my Pinterest boards for:
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