Janilda Bartolomeu Continues Research into the History of the Cape Verdean DiasporaJanilda Bartolomeu Continues Research into the History of the Cape Verdean Diaspora

Janilda Bartolomeu was born in Cape Verde and has spent years researching the undocumented history of the Cape Verdean diaspora. Her work led to the 2020 film The Eleventh Island: Activating Silent Histories through Video. Since the 1960s, Rotterdam has been home to one of the largest Cape Verdean communities outside the Cape Verdean archipelago, earning the city the title of ‘the eleventh island’.

For the next phase of her research project, the Nieuwe Instituut and local organisation RAW Material Company invited Bartolomeu to undertake a residency in Dakar, Senegal. This spring, she researched the largely unknown history of Cape Verdean migrants in Dakar. In collaboration with RAW Material Company, she interviewed members of the Cape Verdean community in the city. The stories she collected there form the basis of the film Another Island: As We Surrender to the Tides.

Janilda experiences Dakar as a sister community in the Cape Verdean diaspora, with Rotterdam playing an important connecting role. In conversations with key members of the religious, spiritual, traditional and cultural communities, as well as with local families, she explores how the community shapes, organises and develops its identity. Meanwhile, the ties with Cape Verde remain strong, through shared heritage and cultural traditions passed down from generation to generation.

This autumn, Janilda will return to Dakar to continue her research. In December, she will present her work at the Nieuwe Instituut.⁠

The residency builds on the Archipelagoes of Bond programme, which was organised by the Nieuwe Instituut and RAW Material Company in Dakar in 2023.

Janilda Bartolomeu’s work is supported by the Creative Industries Fund NL.