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Original scans from the book by João de Deus Lopes da Silva: Stories told: Based on legends, tales and myths from the Island of Santiago. Cabo Verde (Cabo Verde, Ulmeiro, 2014).
One dark night, Lazarus disappeared sought to investigate and represent the logic of occupation of the territory and its geography, exploring the fertile valleys that sustained the first settlements in the archipelago of Cabo Verde, and indicated the first exodus to the agricultural plateau of the island of Santiago.
Through the reading of the landscape, and historical and literary references connected to the land, the traditions, and the mysticism surrounding the interior of Santiago, the project sought to document the characteristics of this island in the tropical Atlantic, which has always dealt with cycles of drought and the unpredictability of the climate, suggesting that the reading of the territory and the climate were, and are, the key to subsistence and sustainability.
One dark night, Lazarus disappeared, Numa noite escura, Lázaro sumiu-se, is a quote from the book by João de Deus Lopes da Silva: Stories told: Based on legends, tales and myths from the Island of Santiago. Cabo Verde (Cabo Verde, Ulmeiro, 2014), a Cape Verdean author who, in this work, collects several tales of popular tradition, part of the cultural heritage of Cabo Verde.
One of these tales revives an old legend and tells the story of Lazarus, a local outlaw from the interior of the island of Santiago who, after fleeing a life of mistreatment in the Big House, stole from the rich, the Morgados, to give back to the poor and enslaved. Through this myth, the project sought to convene the feeling of rebellion that is at the origin of the badiu, and to amplify the power of vernacular tales as historical, political and social testimonies.
Project developed within the scope of an Artistic Residency, with the support of the Lisbon City Council and Camões, I.P.