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Edifício Cortesia de Dr. João Melo Borges
Por trás de uma performance: O Tufo da Mafalala (Behind a performance: Tufo of Mafalala) is an invitation to enter into the backstage of an expressive practice strongly linked to the past, present and future of Mafalala’s neighbourhood in Maputo, Mozambique. This traditional Mozambican dance of Arabic origins is practiced by a group of Makhuwa women that came to this neighbourhood from the north-eastern province of Nampula. The dance has its unique practices and rituals that usually go unnoticed in the eyes of the audience involving the make-up, the selection of capulanas (traditional dress), the composition of the music and the lyrics. These elements inscribe tufo as a space of sociability and intimacy, generating women’s dreams and reflecting a history of conflict that unfolds in the artistic expression of the dance.
Por trás de uma performance: O Tufo da Mafala results from the collaboration between the Grupo de Tufo da Mafalala, the Associação IVERCA and researchers in the field of sonic arts and ethnography from Queen’s University Belfast. Through collaborative research that consists of interviews, field recordings, video and photography, this performance presents the personal stories of these women and deconstructs the various rituals that this practice involves. By articulating different forms of knowledge (traditional, scientific, artistic), Por trás de uma performance aims at producing (an)other knowledge of tufo that transcends writing. Thus, it embraces the group’s initial ambition: to expand its own practice in order to break with tradition and move forward to the future.
Pedro Rebelo (Principal Investigator)
Pedro is a composer, sound artist and performer. In 2002, he was awarded a PhD by the University of Edinburgh where he conducted research in both music and architecture.
Pedro has recently led participatory projects involving communities in Belfast, favelas in Maré, Rio de Janeiro, the gypsy community in Portugal. This work has resulted in sound art exhibitions at venues such as the Metropolitan Arts Centre, Belfast, Espaço Ecco in Brasilia and Parque Lage and Museu da Maré in Rio and MAC Niteroi. His music has been presented in venues such as the Melbourne Recital Hall, National Concert Hall Dublin, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Ars Electronica, Casa da Música, and in events such as Weimarer Frühjahrstage fur zeitgenössische Musik, Wien Modern Festival, Cynetart and Música Viva. His work as a pianist and improvisor has been released by Creative Source Recordings and he has collaborated with musicians such as Chris Brown, Mark Applebaum, Carlos Zingaro, Evan Parker and Pauline Oliveros.
His writings reflect his approach to design and creative practice in a wider understanding of contemporary culture and emerging technologies. Pedro has been Visiting Professor at Stanford University (2007), senior visiting professor at UFRJ, Brazil (2014) and Collaborating Researcher at INEM-md Universidade Nova, Lisboa (2016). He has been Music Chair for international conferences such as ICMC 2008, SMC 2009, ISMIR 2012 and has been invited keynote speaker at ANPPOM 2017, ISEA 2017, CCMMR 2016 and EMS 2013. At Queen’s University Belfast, he has held posts as Director of Education, Director of Research and Head of School. In 2012 he was appointed Professor of Sonic Arts at Queen’s and awarded the Northern Bank’s “Building Tomorrow’s Belfast” prize. He has recently been awarded two major grants from the Arts and Humanities Research Council including the £1m interdisciplinary project “Sounding Conflict”, investigating relationships between sound, music and conflict situations.
Íñigo Sánchez (Research fellow)
Iñigo received his PhD in anthropology from the University of Barcelona (Spain). He is currently a research fellow in the Sonic Arts Research Centre at Queen’s University Belfast and a research associate at the Instituto de Etnomusicologia. Centro de Estudos em Música e Dança (INET-MD) of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. His research interests focus on the study of music as a social and cultural phenomenon in three interdisciplinary domains: the relationship between music, identity and migration; the field of sound studies, and the study of music in urban settings. He is the author of the monograph Cubaneando en Barcelona. Música, migración y experiencia urbana (CSIC, 2012) and his research has been published in different journals (TRANS-Revista Transcultural de Música, Western Folklore, Revista d’Etnologia de Catalunya, MUSICultures) and edited books, among others Fiesta y ciudad: pluriculturalidad e integración (CSIC, 2008), Made in Spain. Studies in Popular Music (Routledge, 2013), Musical Performance and the Changing City (Routledge, 2013) or Towards an Anthropology of Ambient Sound (Routledge, 2017). He is also the editor of TRANS-Transcultural Music Review.
Matilde Meireles (Research Fellow)
Matilde is a recordist, a sound artist, and a researcher who makes use of field recordings to compose site-specific projects. Her projects have been exhibited in Portugal, Spain, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Germany, Brazil, and Greece. She has recently completed a PhD in Sound Art at the Sonic Arts Research Centre, Queen’s University Belfast. Currently, she is a Research Fellow in the Queen’s University Belfast project, Understanding the role of music and sound in conflict transformation: The Mozambique Case Study.
Her work explores extended phonography: an invitation to critically engage with place through multimodal experiences, based on her experiences as a field recordist, a graphic designer, and a site-specific visual artist.
She collaborates with Aidan Deery in the long-form field-recording duo bunú. She also collaborates with Conor McCafferty: together they use field recordings as a tool to explore and articulate urban transformation.
Tufo da Mafalala is a Tufo dance group founded in the 1970s by Matano Saide. This traditional Mozambican dance of Arabic origins was brought to Mafalala by displaced refugees coming from the north-eastern province of Nampula. Initially an all-men dance group, Tufo da Mafalala has evolved according to the times, and is currently formed only by women lead by Saquia Rachide, also known as «the queen of Tufo». Members include Muechamo Assuate, Fatima Issufo, Halimo Mussa Abudo, Elisa Mesa, Zainabo Rachate, Latifa Aly, Maria do Ceu Omar, Atima Estevao Mepipe, Halima Mucossete, Ancha Moti, Muessane Ali Sarangue, and Clemencia Domingos dos Santos.
The group participates actively in the guided tours in Mafalala and other activities promoted by IVERCA, showcasing the rich and varied cultural expression of their homeland.
IVERCA is a grassroots cultural association established in 2009 in Maputo’s oldest township, Mafalala. Through the use of culture, tourism, and the creative support of the local community, IVERCA develops different socio-cultural projects aimed at improving the image and living conditions of the neighborhood and its residents.
