It is from somewhere so close that the scenes of Carla Fonseca Mokgata arise. From Johannesburg to Maputo, the artist tells us a little about herself in neighbouring South Africa, in a world full of new stories every day.
As with many Mozambicans who head to the neighbouring country, Carla went to live in Johannesburg while still very young, in search of a distinctive education, and she has always kept a very close relationship with her native country, especially through its cultural references.
Carla was born to create stories. She grew up regarding culture and art as the centre of a person’s growth: “My family loves music, cinema and art. That has always been part of me,” she says, during a brief visit to Maputo.
Her closeness to her homeland ends up keeping alive within Carla the desire to set up something of her own in Mozambique
Music, theatre or cinema, a painful question for someone who lives for art. “Theatre will always be my first love (…) I draw most of my inspiration from personal experiences, African tradition and global issues. My focus is on avant-garde theatre and performance,” says Fonseca. Although it is a provocative, emotional and daring process, the artist loves making people stop and think about what they are witnessing. “To stop and address the state of the world. Sometimes we complain, but we are too busy to stop and try to understand change. I want my work to change people, to move people. To alter the way they think, the way they feel. If art does not change you, then is it art?” the artist adds.
A question that grows longer when we turn to the main challenge of the work: funding. Although she has many projects, financial support is always a very important factor when it comes to developing them, and at times it is her greatest obstacle. Yet she faces the situation with humour and good spirits: “I would like to make a film with love and air!”
Her closeness to her homeland ends up keeping alive within Carla the desire to set up something of her own in Mozambique: “Many years ago, I wanted to put on theatre shows... and I want to make films too. And I will, one day – soon,” she confesses, hopefully. Until that moment arrives, it is with her family, with her husband, that she relives her queens, so far away and, at the same time, so close. Mozambique runs in her blood, in the music she listens to, in the food she cooks, in the books; the culture is with her every day.
