Turistas

I’m sure you don’t need all those kidneys so bring yourself to Brazil and the cannibalistic locals will rid you of underappreciated arteries, organs and entire bodies. I mean, what else could one possibly do as a Brazilian? Well, except for being a big booty mulata, carnival queen, soccer star, or a favela-dwelling shanty thief because really this is basically all you will find in South America’s Lusophone powerhouse
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When the Hollywood disaster “Turistas” was released people began to ask me about my safety in Brazil. I tried to tell them that I didn’t have to beat glue-sniffing fiends off me with a stick and hold on to my organs and run for my life, but how can I compete with Hollywood imagery? This is not to say there is no truth in the ideas behind these representations, but the conflation is sickening. At least since I’ve been to Brazil a few times and can vouch for the place my family and friends know that it’s a fantastically misrepresented country that has never robbed me of anything, least of all my internal parts. To a certain degree Brazil is seen as extravagantly exotic and despite the fact that Rio de Janeiro has been called “the capital of stay bullets” by certain over-exaggerating newspapers (what about The Estados Unidos?), all the violent descriptions has not barred international fans of fun from experiencing the heavenly scenery and unparalleled hospitality of Brazil’s vast cultures. And just when my family had gotten used to the idea of my going to Brazil and running wild in the streets, I told them I was heading to Africa.
Given the fact that I am working on an MA in African Studies, it only seems natural that I spend time on the continent, right? Movies like Darfur Now and Hotel Rwanda have not helped my case when it comes to people who receive the bulk of their geographic information from box office hits. And the fact that Africa is called Africa means that in the general imagination, what happens in the Sudan is representative of Angola, despite the fact that the two countries share little in common, except for the fact that they are both countries of the same continent. After all, the US shares the same continent as every other country from Canada to Panama and what’s the difference between Detroit and Guatemala city?
I tried to break the information down into pieces. Zanzibar was my strongest seller since it looks much like popular images of paradise and the name in and of itself evokes a strong sense of tropical allure. Step two was to say that Zanzibar is off the coast of Tanzania and that, like the mainland, it is a safe and fascinating place which also hosts the annual film festival (in Zanzibar) and that people from all over the world go to Zanzibar every year for this infamous cinematic event.
Every since 2004 when I first began to learn Portuguese I slowly commenced to mention Mozambique and my historical desire to go there. Mozambique is not as recognized as Tanzania, probably because Tanzania was colonized by the British and also, together with Kenya, is a popular Safari hot spot. Mozambique was colonized by the Portuguese and ever since the civil war ended in 1992 it rarely makes international Anglophone headlines that are unrelated to the yearly flooding and the AIDS pandemic.
I’ve wanted to go to Maputo, the capital because I have heard about the jazz cafés and Latin rhythms. The most prolific and inspiring writing I’ve ever experienced has come from Mozambique’s Mia Couto. Also, I love Timbila music. Timbila is the Chopi word for Xylophone (in fact the singular is “mbila” and the plural is “Timbila”) They are huge xylophones that are played by one or more people with an entire orchestra resounding at the same time. I have a friend who plays Timbila in Portugal and will be home in Mozambique in August and has offered to give me lessons. Finally my marimba dreams are nearing realization.
Aside from dawdling about the roads of Tanzania and Mozambique, speaking Swahili and Portuguese I am also conducting research on the Zanzibar Film Festival and the Documentary Film Festival in Maputo which will be held in Mid-September. Additionally I am working with a small NGO in Zanzibar and will be doing some AIDS-education work for Over the Rainbow, the NGO I worked for in Bahia.
Most of my family and friends know that I am going to East Africa and almost all of them know pretty much know where Mozambique and Tanzania are. They also understand that I have studied Swahili for a year and Portuguese for four years and that I’m familiar with local cultures and customs. They don’t know much about these two countries because Don Cheadle hasn’t made a film about them. I never know where to begin when explaining the two places so I will begin with images. Images, visual, oral or written, are our first introduction to a place, like Hollywood’s use of destructive imagery of Brazil.
This is what fired me up into wanting to take pictures, to being a photographer. I was so fed up with not seeing photographic representations that matched my own vision that I had to take a stand, or a snap. Last year when I was looking for pictures to show my student (of Portuguese language) of Brazil I found so many stereotypical shots and very few pictures of what I thought the culture really looked like that I began to realize how much power image controllers have on cultures. Every image we produce effects the interpretations of others. And so it was with that that I began the Bahia Photo Project and to my family members who are unable to visit Brazil or other places, I bring Bahia, Rio, or Zanzibar to them through pictures, images that I interpret through the lens of my non-professional but just as capable, camera.
My Sony cyber shot and I are preparing for our upcoming escapades in the countries of Tanzania and Mozambique. You’ll see us soon.