Contested Histories and the Curatorial: “The Portuguese Revolution Is an African Revolution”

Carolina Rito; Kostis Kornetis; Sally Alexander; Kepa  Fernández de Larrinoa; Nikolaos Papadogiannis; Niall  HD Geraghty; Alison  Ribeiro De Menezes; Leigh  Payne; Valentina  Infante Batiste

Contested Histories and the Curatorial: “The Portuguese Revolution Is an African Revolution”

Carolina Rito, Kostis Kornetis (Editor), Sally Alexander, Kepa Fernández de Larrinoa, Nikolaos Papadogiannis, Niall HD Geraghty, Alison Ribeiro De Menezes, Leigh Payne, Valentina Infante Batiste

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper

Abstract

On the 25th of April 1974, the Portuguese military takes over the streets of Lisbon
bringing to a closure the longest dictatorship in Europe in the 20th century. It was
followed by a two-year transition process to democracy, led by socialist ideas based on providing food, housing and education to all. However, there is still a blind-spot in the narratives surrounding the history of the revolution, its decolonial process. This paper aims to revisit the revolution and reposition it in the liberation movements in Africa, the socialist solidarities, and the long-standing war waged by Portugal against the independent movements in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau since 1961.
Portugal has seen the rise of the colonial narrative (known as discoveries) in the last ten years, with the announcement of the Museum of the Discoveries, the celebration of the maritime deeds, and the returning of the dictatorship aesthetics. ‘Contested Memories and the Curatorial’ does not aim to rewrite history, but rather to explain the crisis of memory regimes in contemporary Portugal and its lack of critical discourse towards the colonial past and its contemporary affects.

Original language	English
Publication status	Published - 18 Jun 2019
Event	Generational Memories and the Resurgence of the Past in Southern Europe and Latin America - European Studies Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom Duration: 18 Jun 2019 → 18 Jun 2019

Conference

Conference	Generational Memories and the Resurgence of the Past in Southern Europe and Latin America
Country/Territory	United Kingdom
City	Oxford
Period	18/06/19 → 18/06/19

Keywords

postcolonial studies
revolution
independence
cinema
visual cultures
curatorial
Portugal
African studies

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Visual Arts and Performing Arts
Cultural Studies
History

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

1 Participation in workshop, seminar, course

Decolonising History
Carolina Rito (Session Chair)
12 Oct 2018
Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in workshop, seminar, course

4 Paper
1 Anthology or Edited Book
1 Other
1 Special issue
More
- 1 Digital or Visual Media
- 1 Exhibition

"Not Propaganda": A Curatorial Staging on the Aesthetic-Political Continuities Between the Liberation Struggles in Lusophone Africa and the Portuguese Revolution
Rito, C., 1 Jan 2022
Research output: Practice-Based and Non-textual Research › Digital or Visual Media

Open Access
La Revolución Portuguesa es una Revolución Africana’: Una Contra-Genealogía de las Revoluciones Occidentales
Rito, C., 9 Jan 2019.
Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
The Cine-geographies of the Portuguese Revolution
Rito, C., 4 Jun 2019.
Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review

Cite this

Rito, C., Kornetis, K. (Ed.), Alexander, S., Fernández de Larrinoa, K., Papadogiannis, N., HD Geraghty, N., Ribeiro De Menezes, A., Payne, L., & Infante Batiste, V. (2019). Contested Histories and the Curatorial: “The Portuguese Revolution Is an African Revolution”. Paper presented at Generational Memories and the Resurgence of the Past in Southern Europe and Latin America, Oxford, United Kingdom.

Rito, C, Kornetis, K (ed.), Alexander, S, Fernández de Larrinoa, K, Papadogiannis, N, HD Geraghty, N, Ribeiro De Menezes, A, Payne, L & Infante Batiste, V 2019, 'Contested Histories and the Curatorial: “The Portuguese Revolution Is an African Revolution”', Paper presented at Generational Memories and the Resurgence of the Past in Southern Europe and Latin America, Oxford, United Kingdom, 18/06/19 - 18/06/19.

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title = "Contested Histories and the Curatorial: “The Portuguese Revolution Is an African Revolution”",

abstract = "On the 25th of April 1974, the Portuguese military takes over the streets of Lisbonbringing to a closure the longest dictatorship in Europe in the 20th century. It wasfollowed by a two-year transition process to democracy, led by socialist ideas based on providing food, housing and education to all. However, there is still a blind-spot in the narratives surrounding the history of the revolution, its decolonial process. This paper aims to revisit the revolution and reposition it in the liberation movements in Africa, the socialist solidarities, and the long-standing war waged by Portugal against the independent movements in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau since 1961.Portugal has seen the rise of the colonial narrative (known as discoveries) in the last ten years, with the announcement of the Museum of the Discoveries, the celebration of the maritime deeds, and the returning of the dictatorship aesthetics. {\textquoteleft}Contested Memories and the Curatorial{\textquoteright} does not aim to rewrite history, but rather to explain the crisis of memory regimes in contemporary Portugal and its lack of critical discourse towards the colonial past and its contemporary affects.",

keywords = "postcolonial studies, revolution, independence, cinema, visual cultures, curatorial, Portugal, African studies",

author = "Carolina Rito and Kostis Kornetis and Sally Alexander and {Fern{\'a}ndez de Larrinoa}, Kepa and Nikolaos Papadogiannis and {HD Geraghty}, Niall and {Ribeiro De Menezes}, Alison and Leigh Payne and {Infante Batiste}, Valentina",

year = "2019",

month = jun,

day = "18",

language = "English",

note = "Generational Memories and the Resurgence of the Past in Southern Europe and Latin America ; Conference date: 18-06-2019 Through 18-06-2019",

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TY - CONF

T1 - Contested Histories and the Curatorial

T2 - Generational Memories and the Resurgence of the Past in Southern Europe and Latin America

AU - Rito, Carolina

AU - Alexander, Sally

AU - Fernández de Larrinoa, Kepa

AU - Papadogiannis, Nikolaos

AU - HD Geraghty, Niall

AU - Ribeiro De Menezes, Alison

AU - Payne, Leigh

AU - Infante Batiste, Valentina

A2 - Kornetis, Kostis

PY - 2019/6/18

Y1 - 2019/6/18

N2 - On the 25th of April 1974, the Portuguese military takes over the streets of Lisbonbringing to a closure the longest dictatorship in Europe in the 20th century. It wasfollowed by a two-year transition process to democracy, led by socialist ideas based on providing food, housing and education to all. However, there is still a blind-spot in the narratives surrounding the history of the revolution, its decolonial process. This paper aims to revisit the revolution and reposition it in the liberation movements in Africa, the socialist solidarities, and the long-standing war waged by Portugal against the independent movements in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau since 1961.Portugal has seen the rise of the colonial narrative (known as discoveries) in the last ten years, with the announcement of the Museum of the Discoveries, the celebration of the maritime deeds, and the returning of the dictatorship aesthetics. ‘Contested Memories and the Curatorial’ does not aim to rewrite history, but rather to explain the crisis of memory regimes in contemporary Portugal and its lack of critical discourse towards the colonial past and its contemporary affects.

AB - On the 25th of April 1974, the Portuguese military takes over the streets of Lisbonbringing to a closure the longest dictatorship in Europe in the 20th century. It wasfollowed by a two-year transition process to democracy, led by socialist ideas based on providing food, housing and education to all. However, there is still a blind-spot in the narratives surrounding the history of the revolution, its decolonial process. This paper aims to revisit the revolution and reposition it in the liberation movements in Africa, the socialist solidarities, and the long-standing war waged by Portugal against the independent movements in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau since 1961.Portugal has seen the rise of the colonial narrative (known as discoveries) in the last ten years, with the announcement of the Museum of the Discoveries, the celebration of the maritime deeds, and the returning of the dictatorship aesthetics. ‘Contested Memories and the Curatorial’ does not aim to rewrite history, but rather to explain the crisis of memory regimes in contemporary Portugal and its lack of critical discourse towards the colonial past and its contemporary affects.

KW - postcolonial studies

KW - revolution

KW - independence

KW - cinema

KW - visual cultures

KW - curatorial

KW - Portugal

KW - African studies

M3 - Paper

Y2 - 18 June 2019 through 18 June 2019

ER -

Contested Histories and the Curatorial: “The Portuguese Revolution Is an African Revolution”

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Fingerprint

Activities

Decolonising History

Research output

"Not Propaganda": A Curatorial Staging on the Aesthetic-Political Continuities Between the Liberation Struggles in Lusophone Africa and the Portuguese Revolution

La Revolución Portuguesa es una Revolución Africana’: Una Contra-Genealogía de las Revoluciones Occidentales

The Cine-geographies of the Portuguese Revolution

Cite this