Where is Lourenço Marques?: A Mosaic of Voices in a 3D Virtual World

Abstract

This work is dedicated to the former city of Lourenço Marques, which since the independence of Mozambique has became known as Maputo. In the landscape of colonial Portugal, Lourenço Marques was the proud capital of the district of Moçambique (Mozambique). This work consecrates those who lived and inhabited that place and time.

During the process of the decolonization of Mozambique, thousands of people were forced to suddenly abandon the country. More than the possessions and material goods, experiences of entire lives and generations were left behind. The great majority have never returned nor do they intend to. For some only a great nostalgia and disenchantment is left; while some others evoke the previous time as a magical space and time; others, like me, don’t have any memory of the place.

The work presented here (available at www.lourencomarques.net) aims to represent that place from the memories of those who have experienced Lourenço Marques and had to abandon the city in the three year period between 1974 and 1976.