“Ngoenha Rex”, acrylic on canvas, 230×135 cm, 2021.
EXT. BEACH IN KATEMBE – DAY
FADE IN FROM WHITE
Jorge and Mana walk on the beach in Katembe while looking at Maputo in the distance, on the other side of the bay.
Mana
So, what did they think about that?
Jorge
There are mixed reactions, mostly they relate it to my Dutch heritage. Some say I’m trying to fuse the African with the European.
Mana
But yes, that is what you’re doing, no?
Jorge
I was for a while, but one must move on, right?
Mana
What does that mean? You artists are a bit crazy for someone like me. I have a normal job and do normal things, you have to explain.
Jorge
Art is not that strange, there are many of us.
Mana
Yea, but you know what I mean.
Jorge
I do actually. But yes, what I meant to say was that, yes, I have been looking at the past in relation to the Occident. But I must say that a realistic technique does not count as a western style any more, the whole world paints like that. It would be similar to saying that photography is a western style, no. Photography is neutral and one finds their voice within in.
Mana
I get it, you are saying that this style of painting is not African or European, it is global.
Jorge
Yes, thank you.
Mana
Okay, that’s funny, because it really isn’t. Most artists I know in Maputo say that the pure drawing, the abstract and stylized, is really African.
Jorge
Yep. But that is old by now. In the twentieth century there were the post-colonial struggles, fine. But this is the twenty-first century, painting is now of us all, art is of us all. Consider it the new school. I am not a modernist, I want the future. That’s what I wanted to say earlier, there is no use in defining my work within a Modernist framework.
Mana
But don’t you think that if you do what others in history have done that you propagate the same message?
Jorge
No, painting is a neutral medium, just like photography or dancing. The context and what you do with it make all the difference.
Mana
So, because it is you doing it here it is different?
Jorge
Yes, the intention is not the same.
Mana
Can you give an example of that?
Jorge
Yes, in South Africa there was a painter that made very vulgar images of politicians. They were provocations really, presidents fornicating and so on.
Mana
Yes, I know him.
Jorge
I also put presidents in my paintings but I don’t provoke like that. So you can’t measure us with the same instrument.
Mana
Which is good, you are not shallow.
Jorge
I try not to be indeed. And I wouldn’t say he is superficial, he is being sincere.
Mana
So, how would you provoke?
Jorge picks up a shell off the sand. Mana grabs it, looks at it, and then gives it back. Jorge looks at it for a bit and the throws it back in the sand. They walk on.
Jorge
Am not sure provoking works well.
Mana
Really? No.
Jorge
Yes. Don’t get me wrong, of course we all know that he is right, so to speak. His work is relevant, simply because it is an alternative voice, a manifestation of the freedom in democracy. The relevance of it in political terms is valid, however, in artistic terms I am not so sure about it. Time will tell. One can say that he visualizes the opinions of a lot of people. It is also good to stick it to the man, especially a man like that.
Mana
So, how would you do it then?
Jorge
I did it with the crocodile, again, you can’t measure us with the same tool.
Mana
You keep saying that.
Jorge
It is relevant, no?
Mana
He paints what he sees.
Jorge
Which is a good thing. But if you make a painting of your neighbour with his piece out, he probably will not like it and might charge you for defamation.
Mana
If the neighbour went out the door with his piece out, then you are painting what you see. So what’s the problem?
Jorge
Where the neighbour puts his piece is not my business, exhibiting the painting can be considered as making it public. There are laws against that.
Mana
But it is art, you should be free. It is good because the neighbour has responsibilities at home.
Jorge
Well, being sued for a painting only works in favour of the artist of course. The neighbour’s best choice is to pretend it never happened.
Mana
Yes, but of course the neighbour has a big mouth.
Jorge
I have a nice family as direct neighbour, nothing wrong with them, am talking about real people.
Mana
I was talking about —
Jorge
— I know.
Mana
You are a well behaved boy, why don’t you stick it to the man?
Jorge
Have my way of doing that. It’s not like there are no sexual organs in my work, they are just hidden. Also, the piece is based on philosopher’s manifesto, he is not a corrupt politician hated by a divided nation.
Mana
You mean the text-balloon before the city and the bay was painted there?
Jorge
Yes, it was about the hidden debt and the western role in it.
Mana
Why didn’t you leave it like that?
Jorge
My intention was actually to practice technique more than anything. I had years of painting with people around me who told me to do less. It is the tendency of our times, to do as least as possible. With the crocodile I wanted to do the opposite of that, for the sake of my own pleasure. And I wanted to challenge myself, to see how far I would be able to take it.
Mana
Is that why you spent so much time on it?
Jorge
Yes and no. I was also making a comic book, the crocodile-emperor is a character in the story. So the painting is a sort of character sketch.
Mana
But why did you change it so much?
Jorge
Another aspect of the process is that I was making it in Núcleo de Arte, meaning that there were always people looking at it. I knew there would be times that I wouldn’t work on it, that it would stay the same for a month or more simply because I was also producing a comic in parallel. And so I tried to always leave it in a presentable state. I wanted the panting to work even if it wasn’t done yet.
Mana
I get it, you basically made every time a slightly different painting.
Jorge
More or less.
Mana
Is it right to blame the hidden debt on the West?
Jorge
Part of it is indeed properly blamed on the West. The exploitation of Africa in a brutal manner has been the status quo for a while now. Just look at what France does in West-Africa. It’s wild, crazy, and just reckless.
Mana
Should we blame it on our rulers?
Jorge
They have the responsibility.
Mana
So it’s their fault?
Jorge
Am not sure how to answer that.
Mana
Tell me more about the painting.
Jorge
The painting depicts a huge statue of the first emperor, in the story of the comic there is a crocodile tribe his institution rules over. They are the elite of that world, which is an allegory of Maputo.
Mana
Is the emperor the main character?
Jorge
No, the Goddess is.
Mana
Goddess?
Jorge
Yes, you will read about it. The emperor is my version of a philosopher-king, this is a philosopher-emperor. The comic book itself is based on, or departures from, the political manifesto of Severino Ngoenha ‘For A Third Way’ of 2019. In the manifesto Ngoenha re-frames Mozambican history and divides it in three categories. I took this as the basis for my story-world and added a fourth way.
Mana
Did he approve that?
Jorge
Yes, but he also had no choice.
Mana
No, you are illustrating his work so, if he doesn’t like it..
Jorge
No, it is my work, not his. I can interpret his words in any way I like, that is not up to him. I wouldn’t even have to say anything to him. It is not even a manner of intellectual property, there is freedom of expression in this country. And I did not set out to illustrate anything, in my comic I play freely with the concepts and ideas in the manifesto. I even added to it and had many more inspirational resources than just the work of Ngoenha. In my view this is logic, this is fine art, one must be a critical thinker. At least, that’s how think of it for myself, it’s actually good if another artist does something completely different.
Mana
Okay, I didn’t realize the gravitas surrounding this issue.
Jorge
Well, I told him I was doing the comic, didn’t ask for anything. A friend of mine, Michele, provoked me into doing something with Ngoenha’s theories or anything. I accepted the challenge and ran with it, you know?
Mana
How did Ngoenha react?
Jorge
He gave me hard time, testing my knowledge of his work. I really had to convince him that not only the comic was real, but that I am actually a sincere person and an artist with some skills.
Mana
You can’t be mad at that.
Jorge
Of course not, I would do the same if I was him.
Mana
Hahaha! I didn’t expect that one.
Jorge
Ghehehe, after he was convinced of something, am not sure what, he gave me a copy of his manifesto.
Mana
Ah, so now you could do your homework properly?
Jorge
Yes, and I did.
Mana
I know you are a good boy.
Jorge
Well, one learns with age.
Mana
I bet you were a good student.
Jorge
Nah, I lost my wild hairs. It’s a bit funny, nowadays I’m a teacher that always gives homework, while in my days I was notorious for not doing homework.
Mana
Typical artists, you only want to learn what you find interesting.
Jorge
Entrepreneurs and inventors are also like that.
Mana
Is that how you see yourself?
Jorge
Jordan Peterson says that in psychological terms there is no difference between a professional artist and an entrepreneur.
Mana
I can accept that. I see no problem there.
Jorge
The problems are practical indeed.
Mana
So how did people respond to the work?
Jorge
The comic or the painting?
Mana
Both..
Jorge
About the comic they say that one really has to know about Maputo to understand it. Foreigners will only get it if they study our history.
Mana
I agree with that.
Jorge
It is just the first, am now working on the second.
Mana
are you going to explain everything in the second?
Jorge
No, but it will be more clear what the story is about. Yes, the first ‘A moça Mbique’ is very much about our society, but the second will have a wider thematic. The base elements of the first book will be further developed.
Mana
Good, I had the feeling you ended abruptly.
Jorge
It was a cliffhanger.
Mana
So you will continue the story where you left it?
Jorge
Yes.
Mana
Will there be a third?
Jorge
Yes.
Mana
So you have the story ready?
Jorge
I was already working on the third book when Michele challenged me.
Mana
What, wait, how does that work?
Jorge
Am not sure, but it works for me.
Mana
Hûh?
Jorge
I had a story of three-hundred plus pages I was in the process of drawing. Then Michele challenged me to do something so I started another comic. Because of that I got a job involving comics, Kurika, and made a comic based on that which is not published yet.
Mana
You never told me that.
Jorge
Now I’m working on the second of the Mbique series. You get it? There are two ready and two in production.
Mana
Why not just make one at the time?
Jorge
Good question! Jordan Peterson said that he writes various books at the same time. George Martin also does that and Alan Moore too. I figure that if they do it, then I can do so too. It works for me.
Mana
You said that there are other inspirations beyond Ngoenha, can you name some of them?
Jorge
I find Stephen Kotkin and Lex Fridman a great duo. I can listen to them all day. Ngoenha’s work is political philosophy, so I have done some homework in that regard. My luck is that we live in a time that we have the internet, which I use as a radio when painting and drawing. I can have my eyes and hands on the work while listening to audiobooks, podcasts, and lectures.
Mana
Do you read or only listen?
Jorge
I also read. You can’t be a writer without ever reading.
Mana
But aren’t you a painter?
Jorge
My angle into painting is from comics, where you also read and write, yes.
Mana
When are you going write a romance?
Jorge
I hope to find an artist than can draw that story for me.
Mana
You should do it yourself, no?
Jorge
No, its fun to work with others. I’ll see, if after making the others I still don’t have anybody, it’s on.
Mana
A love story?
Jorge
Yes, a tragic love story, after the other ones.
Mana
I thought you only cared about science-fiction and politics.
Jorge
Love is the law.
FADE OUT TO WHITE
