JOTA MOMBAÇA

Mombaça’s artwork looks at the tensions between politics, aesthetics, and ethics by examining subjects like the redistribution of violence, decolonial turns, and political intersectionality.

Early Years

Mombaça was born in Natal, Brazil. The artist studied Social Sciences at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte in Natal, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in 2014 and a Master’s degree in 2015. While studying, Mombaça researched and wrote essays on topics like anti-colonial justice and political intersectionality.

The artist’s practice began to develop from Mombaça’s interest in queer studies and critical theory. After graduating from university, Mombaça began to investigate the relationship between monstrosity and humanity. Observations relating to these relationships appear in Mombaça’s work, alongside themes of decolonalisation and gender disobedience.

Jota Mombaça Artworks

Jota Mombaça’s practice ranges across readings, poems, performances, installations, and films.

A FERIDA COLONIAL AINDA DÓI, VOL. 6:  Vocês nos devem

A FERIDA COLONIAL AINDA DÓI, VOL. 6:  Vocês nos devem (2017) is a video installation that Mombaça made in response to the effects of colonial history and geopolitics, specifically in relation to the Portuguese Overseas.

In the film, the artist’s blood is used to write inscriptions beneath the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, a monument in Lisbon dedicated to the Portuguese Age of Exploration. Mombaça scribbles the phrases ‘you owe us’ and ‘you owe us your soul. And, just like us, our ghosts are coming to collect’ beside the monument. By documenting such inscriptions, Mombaça hopes to launch an intervention that dismantles the glorified depiction of colonial narratives. The film places an emphasis on the erasure of memory and the depth of debt and pain caused by Portuguese colonisation.

A Gente Combinamos De Não Morrer (BANDEIRA #1)

A Gente Combinamos De Não Morrer (BANDEIRA #1) (2018) is an artwork and performance by Mombaça named after a short story by Brazilian writer Conceição Evaristo. The artwork is made from ordinary materials like fabric, wood, broken glass, and shoelaces. From these materials, Mombaça created makeshift knives while reading a collection of texts aloud to an audience.

The artwork reflects on the relations between Black and trans people’s struggles in contemporary society. The physical act of making sharp weapons from shattered glass is representative of the violence endured by the LGBTQIA+ community, particularly in Mombaça’s homeland of Brazil. Mombaça’s performative readings recall the silenced voices of minorities, while conveying the urge to awaken a country saturated with crimes against queer and Black communities.

The Daughters of the Driest Rain

The Daughters of the Driest Rain (2020) is an installation and video work by Mombaça that was commissioned for the 22^nd Biennale of Sydney in 2022. The work is made from mixed materials including fabric and rope, and features the word ‘sabera’ written across it in a repetitive pattern.

In this artwork, Mombaça explores global warming and the way in which the earth has responded to the colonial and capitalist appropriation of natural resources. The artist reflects on our relationship to earth by imagining a space where we can transcend colonial structures and adopt a humanness that brings us closer to the natural world.

Exhibitions

Jota Mombaça has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions.

Solo exhibitions include OCUPAÇÃO: Arquivo: MUNDO = FERIDA, Galerias Municipais, Lisbon (2018).

Group exhibitions include the 34th São Paulo Biennial (2021); the 22nd Biennale of Sydney, Sydney (2020); Erro 417: Expectativa Falhada, Galeria Municipal do Porto, Porto (2021); Ovartaci & the Art of Madness, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen (2017).

Instagram

Mombaça’s Instagram can be found here.

Phoebe Bradford | Ocula | 2022