PT / EN
Marta Pinto Machado
Ceci n’est pas Francisco
Passport application record of Francisco Mendonça.
Photograph by Marta Pinto Machado at the Braga District Archive.
Google Maps
The artist Marta Pinto Machado questions the archive and official historiography, highlighting its partiality and incompleteness. Based on the discovery of a photograph in the Braga District Archive of Francisco Mendonça — a Black footballer who lived in Braga in the 1960s — Marta proposes to reconstruct fragmented narratives of his time in the city, addressing racial and political issues that have been institutionally silenced. Her work, titled "Ceci n’est pas Francisco," creates a new archive, where documentary discoveries, photography, and fiction merge, not with the aim of preserving, but of resisting and retelling. For Marta, when the archive or the past is absent, other narratives can emerge, allowing for critical reflection and change regarding the present and future.
Preview of visual essay Ceci n’est pas Francisco.
Marta Pinto Machado is a Portuguese and Cape Verdean artist and researcher. Her photographic work explores the ambiguities present in official historical narratives. Marta is currently a PhD candidate in History at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa.
More information at:
https://martapintomachado.pt/
Technical Sheet
Artwork specifications: Giclée print on 230g matte alpha-cellulose paper, sublimated flag fabric print, sound installation.
Audio: Marta Pinto Machado.
Model: Chisoka Simões.
Lighting and programming: Francisco Antão.
Video production and direction: Marta Pinto Machado.
Video post-production: Olhar de Ulisses – Luís Costa.
Acknowledgements: University of Minho/Braga District Archive, National Archive of Torre do Tombo, Sporting Clube de Braga, João Basto, University of Minho/Sporting Clube de Braga, Dr. João Miguel Fernandes, Olhar de Ulisses – film producer.