Exhibition of my work at the Palacio da Cultura Ildo Lobo

In January, the Palacio da Cultura (Palace of Culture), the capital city's only major center for the arts, hosted an opening reception for my exhibition in Cape Verde. The public came to see photography of many of my major public art projects around the world, with the background story of each one. I gave a presentation of my work, in which I explained the connection between education, art, social action, and community development.

me giving my presentation

Me with my friends Xina, Samira and Alex after the exhibition

Camping in the Serra Malagueta

In order to get to know a very different side of Cape Verde, I traveled out of the capital and into the interior of the island Santiago with a group of friends. We spent the night camping in the mountains, and hiked around, enjoying the beautiful views. We stopped at the mountain house of a friend and his family for a visit.

Mural project on the nightly news

As I got to work, news of the project spread quickly. Before long, Cape Verde's main television channel, TCV,  was on the scene to interview me, my friend and project coordinator Alex Carvalho, and the director of the Palacio da Cultura, Samira Pereira. The story was aired on the Sunday evening and Monday afternoon editions of the news.

Click here to see the video

The President of Cape Verde visits Joel

As I was working on the mural, the president of Cape Verde, Pedro Pires, stopped by to meet me and see the artwork. We chatted and took pictures, and the president said he liked the artwork and couldn't wait to see the end result.

Getting to work!

On my second day in Cape Verde, I got to work on my first mural! The day was January 20th, the anniversary of the assasination of the revolutionary hero Amilcar Cabral, who fought against the Portuguese colonizers in the 60's and 70's to free both Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau. To commemorate this important figure, I painted his portrait on the outside wall of the Amilcar Cabral Foundation in the center of Praia, Cape Verde's capital city. The portrait was the beginning of a mural project that would include imagery of the country's culture, history, and natural environment, images that were chosen with the collaboration of local friends.

Alex helping out on the mural!

me and Alex