Pauliana Valente Pimentel
Quel Pedra (THAT STONE)
There is a legend in Mindelo, in the island of São Vicente, which says that those who sit on a specific stone in the neighborhood of Font Flip will became gay. It was in this neighborhood that I met Steffy and seven of his friends: Edinha, Gi, Elton, Sindji, Susy, Henio and Jason. These boys, aged between seventeen and twenty-five years are transgender, inasmuch that they like to wear women’s clothing, make up, and to be called by women`s names. Faced by this specific situation in Cape Verde, and the significance of this stone, I decided to entitle this work Quel Pedra, which is Creole for “That Stone.”
There is a high degree of intolerance towards homosexuals in many African countries, in some cases motivated by religious beliefs, others out of ignorance. Many Africans are forced to immigrate to Europe due to their inability to live their sexuality freely. Sexual relations between persons of the same sex were only legalized in 2004 in Cape Verde. Until then, it was a crime to have a homosexual relationship. In twelve years, the law has changed, but the discrimination persists. In 2013, a year before I met this group of friends, the first Gay Parade was held in Mindelo.
Given these facts, I was interested in living in this community, in order to understand their dreams, frustrations, hopes and fears. Where their courage and attitude came from. I was with them in two separate moments; one in late 2014 and in March 2016. It was interesting to see how much has changed in the lives of these Cape Verdian youngsters, and in what manner.
The idea of this work is to confront the viewer with their own prejudices, challenging the conventions and standards concerning the identity of the human being. Simone de Beauvoir once said: “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” Perhaps the aim of this work is to unveil what it means to be woman today.
Quel Pedra has been published as book in 2017.
Short Bio
Pauliana Valente Pimentel, 1975, based in Lisbon. As a visual artist and freelance photographer, she has been producing and exhibiting photo essays extensively since 1999 in Portugal and abroad. In 2005, she took part in the photography course of the Gulbenkian Creativity and Artistic Creation Program. She was member of the [Kameraphoto] agency from 2006 until its extinction in 2014, and a founding member of the N’WE collective in 2016. Pierre von Kleist Editions published her book “Vol.I” in 2009, and in 2011 “Caucase, Souvenirs de Voyage” was published by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
She is also director of several films. In 2015, she won the prize for the best photographic work of the year by the Portuguese Author Society, and in 2016 she was nominee for the Novo Banco prize, the most important prize in Portugal for Contemporary photography. Nowadays she collaborates with several galleries in Europe and part of her work belongs to private and institutional collections.
The work Quel Pedra was reviewed by Aperture in 2016.
Related Links
Quel Pedra (That Stone) – book
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The Emerging Photographer Fund is supported by generous donors to the Magnum Foundation
