Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea

Rua Serpa Pinto, 4 | Rua Capelo, 13 1200-444 Lisboa

21 . 11 . 2025 → 01 . 02 . 2026

tuesday - sunday → 10:00 am – 01:00 pm :: 02:00 pm – 06:00 pm

Last entry → 5:30 pm

Artist

Sofia Yala

Sofia Yala´s two photographic series address the deep need to learn more about Angolan/Portuguese family history. Routes to the past were offered by both Google and traditional archives.

Type Here to Search series is motivated by the various questions raised around unknown people in the photo albums. Sofia Yala dig through the heaps of family archives to understand their family’s path and its transition into present times. Ongoing conversations with family members led Yala to realise that much of the information about family history is fragmented and lost for ever. However, recognising the importance of black family albums and their representation of black history acts as a personal drive to digitise and visualise black history through artistic practise and diverse expression.

Starting point of the series Bodies as an Archive was Yalas´s paternal grandfather’s suitcase containing private notes of his children’s birthplace, dates of birth, full names, official documents, and international mail. “Gradually, I started taking self-portraits to document my creative research process; the hands collect, search, touch and feel textures. The method of posing in front of a wall, is performing the limitations and consequences of forced migration, on the other hand, facing the door, symbolises the beginning of a new journey or the antithesis,” says Sofia Yala.