Edith Borges Paintings

Edith Borges: Capeverdean Perspectives

Her studio is located in Malmo, a city in faraway
Sweden, but Edith Borges’ paintings leave no doubts:
her soul is 100% Cape Verdean, full of the colors and
sunshine of the Atlantic archipelago. On vacation in
her native land, São Vicente, the artist, who is also a
high school teacher, speaks of her career as a woman
of the arts and her intense love for Cape Verde.

To buy Borges Paintings,
please contact us by
clicking here: PAINTINGS

Interviewed by: Teresa Sofia Fortes - A Semana

Online

How did you discover your taste for the visual arts?

Ever since I was a child, I loved to draw and paint.

father

worked

with

book binding, and would

make felt

covers and

write those

beautiful letters

them, and so I

was always

surrounded by

materials.

His workshop,

which is now the

Gráfica do Mindelo

press,

was on the

second floor of our

house.

When I

learned to write, I began

to write poems and

illustrate

them,

so I invented my own

comic strip.

My brothers and I would

make drawings

plastic,

which we’d then

put in front of the

camera to make

our own

animated cartoons. In other

words, I

was

always

surrounded by images,

colors, music,

theater and

dance.

But, you know, many people who show talent in a

specific

area

when

they’

re children end up taking

different paths,

because

they never had

the

opportunity to develop their

gift. In your case,

how

did you evolve

and

become a

professional visual

artist?

When I went into high school I began to paint with

water

colors,

addition

to learning geometric

design. I always

had

y pad

with me and

wherever

was I would draw. Just

yesterday I ran

into an

elementary

school

classmate of

mine, Luzy

Martins, who

remembered how I liked

to make

drawings and paintings, which

I’d give to my

classmates

after

I’d finished.

My teachers also

told

me that I had a

knack for the fine

arts. But I also

love

work with

children, and that’s how I applied

for a

scholarship in

pedagogy, children’s

psychology or fine arts.

And where did you go to college?

I got a scholarship in the former Soviet Union. After

two

years of

study

the Yerevan School of Fine

Arts in

Armenia, I

transferred to the

Moscow

Institute of Fine Arts,

where I earned

by Master’s in

Fine Arts

with a

concentration in ceramic design.

When did you feel you were ready to make a career

as a

visual

artist?

I always had to main desires as a professional:

working in

the

visual

arts

and with teaching. I

always liked showing

people that

it’s possible

learn.

And what areas do you work in at the moment?

In both, teaching and fine arts. I have my private

studio in

Sweden,

where I

live and where I earned

my equivalency in

1989. I hold exhibits,

displaying

my view of the world, and I

teach

14- to 16-year-old

children

at a normal

school.

And how do you define your work as a visual artist?

You know, I don’t think about it. But I can say that

works are

the fruit

what exists inside me and

of what I

get from others,

and of what

inspires

me at

a given

moment. So it’s something

very personal

and

hard to

define

in words. That’s why I paint.

In what way can the influence of Cape Verde be

seen in

your

works?

In the Institute of Fine Arts you learn the technical

aspects

and

history

art, which helps a lot, as it

widens your

knowledge.

But what we

have

inside of

us is what marks

us and makes the

difference. In my

childhood

and

adolescence I was always

surrounded by this joyous

people and its

sense of

humor, by

children, by our music,

by the

courage

of Cape

Verdean women,

who often raise

their

children by

themselves... All of this

always

affected

me quite a bit, in the positive

sense, and it shows

up in

paintings. The colors of Cape Verde as

well, full of light and

sun, resulted in

an interesting

comment I heard

one day

during

an exhibit in

Stockholm.

This person told me that

eyes seem

to be see things through the colors

of the

rainbow.

All of

this is

an emotional charge I put on the

canvas. A little

of everything I

saw, heard and lived

in Cape

Verde influenced me. Cape

Verde

inside me, and as a

Cape Verdean I am proud of

this.

Some time back I interviewed Kiki Lima, and he

told me

that he

had had

gallery in Portugal, but

that it was very

difficult to have

a space like

that

there at a time when the

market was still very

closed off to artists

African origin.

What’s it like in

Sweden?

I haven’t yet thought of having a gallery, as

because of my

husband’s

work

we travel a lot. But

since we currently live

Malmo, in southern

Sweden,

maybe we could think

about this

idea.

Have you held exhibitions in Cape Verde?

The last one was in August of last year, at Amílcar

Cabral

International

Airport, specifically in the

Coffee Shop, with

the

sponsorship of ASA

and

Catering Freitas. In addition to

this

exhibit, I held a

CD-ROM

projection of 50

paintings. I

did the

same

projection in São Vicente

during concerts

with

Diva, at the

MindelHotel, Djoya, at the Porto

Grande

Hotel, and Vlú, at Café

Musique. As I live

in Sweden, any

exhibit I

undertake in Cape

Verde

has to

be prepared well

in advance. In other

words,

I have

to know the exact

dates

so I can prepare the

paintings

and the

trip. I’m available.

There are those who say that in a country like Cape

Verde,

with

meager

means, it’s impossible to have

a school of

fine arts.

What’s

your opinion?

There may not be a very strong tradition in Cape

Verdean

painting due

the lack of access to

materials such as

canvas

and oil paint. But the

lack

of materials should not

be an

impediment. For

example, when I

held my

first

exhibition here in

Cape Verde, in commemoration of

women’s day, I

used platex...

I opted for the wrinkled part. I

used

the

paints that came in

plastic containers to mix

with

white paint to paint

wood. We can

use the

resources we

have available. All you need is

inspiration

and willingness.

But you also have to

learn the different

techniques, be

organized and

have

discipline. A person can

have a

knack

doing a specific thing, but can

only evolve with

discipline, even

if it’s just a hobby. The upshot of

all this is

that

we need a school of fine

arts. Culture

is necessary.

How do you relate to Cape Verde living abroad?

Even living abroad, Cape Verde is always present.

One of

the

ways of

being

in contact with Cape

Verde is speaking

Portuguese with my two

children

and Crioulo with my

husband. -

Why Portuguese

with your

children?

Because

that way they’ll

have

the possibility to learn to write

and

speak

Portuguese,

which is more of a language. They

speak

Crioulo when they’re

on vacation in Cape

Verde. On

the other hand,

when I’m in my

studio I

connect to Cape

Verde through my paintings,

our

music,

in addition to on-

line radio stations and

newspapers and all

my Cape

Verdean friends

scattered throughout the world,

whom I

contact by

telephone or e-mail.

Write to the artist at: edithborges@bolina.hsb.se