Particularly connected with the realm of street art, graffiti, and contemporary visual art, Fidel Évora grew up in both Praia, Cape Verde - where he was born - and on the south margin of the Tagus River, Portugal. Making formal use of this interest in African and urban cultures, his overall practice rests on researching and bringing to light dialogues and stories once forgotten. In this exhibition, we can observe this gesture of unveiling and research on notions of the self and the other and on transparency and opacity. It is at the center of this duality that the present solo show titled Oxi Dretu, Manham Mariádu wishes to exist.

Thinking about the concept of transparency: it surrounds this solo show in a plurality of forms. We can observe transparency in the technique and medium, as the artist makes use of overlaid compositions. Yet the delicate usage of materials represents a formal approach as well as a theoretical one, as the layers the artist employs are additionally an exercise of overlapping meanings. We can, simultaneously, observe transparency in the clear way the artist wishes to express his concerns and themes. But, transparency as a concept can present itself as opaque. For example, in the digital age we all inhabit and have difficulty escaping from, transparency is thrust upon everyone (Alloa and Thoma, 2018) which creates an opaque and concrete boundary to our privacy. Technology, in general, can serve as both barrier and portal as Évora reflects on his series “Mass Media” where, as Baudrillard had done, the artist asks: “are the mass media on the side of power in the manipulation of the

masses, or are they on the side of the masses in the liquidation of meaning” (Baudrillard, 1985). Therefore, this idea of technology and transparency can be connected to the relation between the Self and the Other, as narratives dissimilar from our own tend to become cellophane, meaning invisible to unattentive eyes.

The space and place of writing constitute also a relevant point to note in Évora's work. The phrases which punctuate the exhibition written in creole allow for the desire of conquest of a space that was denied to many, in particular women, to shine through. The transparency of this request - to be listened to, to be seen by - exists as well in the haunting gaze of the women in the images Évora brought to life. These images seem to turn the gaze of the Other onto the Self, as women, - so used to being watched - are now the ones watching us. Furthermore, the pieces were inspired by a song the artist listened to in the documentary “Mais Alma” by Catarina Alves Costa, which portraits the life and the art from Cape Verde. In this musical piece, we can hear: “Dja mandan nha dinhero, Fla mudjeris de Cabo Verdi, Djan contenti cu nha dinhero” (They've already sent my money, The women of Cape Verde say, I am happy with my money), indicating a longing for autonomy and independence, particularly in financial terms. But overall, the request seems to be for voice.

Similarly, in his work “Fake Self-portrait 1989 No1”, which is presented removed from its group of sister pieces, offers for contemplation the image of a young boy. Again, we are being watched by this self-portrait, which is a combination of different faces from different people, and that represents the artist himself as much as it is universal.

We now find ourselves surrounded by the gazing eyes of women and children of Cape Verde. In fact, when we recognize that we are being watched by the entirety of his works, what Darya Maoz (2005) called the “mutual gaze”, can be applied, as “to view a more complex, double-sided picture, where both the tourist and local gazes exist, affect and feed each other and the encounter they produce”. It is at this point of recognition of the position of the self and the Other, as we look through and beyond the layers of his work, that we gain a consciousness of the power structures forming our thoughts. In Évora’s work, we gain awareness of transparent faces, hush-down voices, forgotten stories, and of the micro and counter-narratives left to tell. If nothing more, NAME wishes to counter-narrate. To design a narrative from the vantage point of the silenced, to give the possibility to hear and understand the complexity of realities (Mora, 2014) outside our borders, which allow for the transparent to become opaque and be seen.

Maria de Brito Matias. January, 2022.