The exhibition “Blessed Ground”, by documentary photographer and photojournalist Ricardo Lopes, opened on Thursday at the Madeira Photography Museum – Atelier Vicente’s. The exhibition showcases 25 photographs exploring the social, economic, and environmental impacts of gold mining in rural communities of Mozambique.
During the inauguration, the Regional Secretary for Tourism, Environment, and Culture, Eduardo Jesus, highlighted the importance of the Museum hosting diverse photographic languages and perspectives. "It is important for the Madeira Photography Museum to be able to host different languages and different views on photography, because it is this diversity that we want to be present in its programming," he stated.
Eduardo Jesus emphasized that “Blessed Ground” brings the public closer to a geographically distant reality, yet one that raises universal questions. "These are images that speak to us of people, territory, and ways of subsistence, but they also lead us to think about the consequences that certain economic options and decisions made on a global scale can have on the lives of very specific communities," he explained.
The work by Ricardo Lopes, which resulted in “Blessed Ground”, was developed alongside rural communities living on the banks of the Púnguè and Revuè rivers in Mozambique.
Ricardo Lopes explained that the project also stemmed from a desire to question the so-called “cost of progress” and the consequences that economic decisions made on a global scale can have on local populations.
The inauguration also marked the opening of the small temporary exhibition room at the Madeira Photography Museum – Atelier Vicente’s, a new space intended to highlight pieces from the MFM-AV collection and provide closer contact with objects representative of the history of photography.
