The artistic director of the Theatre of Bairro Alto in Lisbon, Francisco Frazão, proposed a challenge to create an artistic approach to put into dialogue the activities of those considered essential workers and artists in general. In response to this challenge with film, I came up with the idea of the dance film MUDANÇA. Since July 2020, short-distance traveling has become possible again, and I went to Marseille. There I realized that I would like to glimpse the most prominent voice of current Portuguese national politics, one who most represents the inclusion and the equality among the popular diversity. This thought matched perfectly the aims of the social-civic agenda developed by the citizen and deputy Joacine Katar Moreira.
In Marseille, in a temperate Mediterranean climate, typical of summer, I witnessed the resumption of cultural activities, where it was once again cautiously possible to see a crowd of people celebrating life, near the Cours Julien district. This cluster reflected an idea of cohesion and social cohabitation, which I continue to find essential to reflect in our current Portuguese society. But I needed to understand which figure has most represented this feeling in Portugal. So I came to the conclusion that Joacine, the Guinea-Bissauan woman, the first black parliamentary woman in Portugal, could be the potential essential worker that I needed. So this idea immediately became clear to me, and I decided to propose it to her. The objective was to convince her to rehearse two prose-poetry texts written by my father, Paulo T. Bungué, originally published in his book Cabaró, Djito Tem! (Lisbon, 1996).
In times of widespread pandemic, questioning the preservation of democracy, the integrity of public health, and our own notions of individuality, we are pulled along by a process of change already underway. How to think about a meeting between an artist and a deputy who decide to question the essence of their crafts? In MUDANÇA the challenge is to bring together the artist Welket Bungué and the politician Joacine Katar Moreira, using their expression and communication skills, which can be questioned physically and orally, based on the understanding of what is the essence of rhetorical art and performing art, respectively.
MUDANÇA is a dance-film that continues my work N'SUMANDE TCHALIH HUDI (2019), an epic-narrative film created with images captured in the Amazon rainforest and in the Natural Park of Itatiaia, Brazil.
Welket Bungué
