Living Mozambique
Living Mozambique is a series of events celebrating the literary and musical landscapes of Mozambique, highlighting the works of writer Paulina Chiziane and saxophonist Moreira Chonguiça.
Join Georgetown University’s Spanish and Portuguese Department, the African Studies Program in the School of Foreign Service, the Johns Hopkins University’s Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, the Licungo University, the Library of Congress, and the Embassies of Mozambique and Portugal, to experience multiple aspects of the Mozambican culture.
Featuring
Paulina Chiziane is a member of the Chope group of Southern Mozambique. Having been born in Mozambique’s Gaza province in 1955, Chiziane lived through both Mozambique’s colonial war of independence and its subsequent civil war, a theme which informs much of her writing. Additionally, women’s rights and women’s treatment within Mozambican society is commonly touched on in her work. Upon publishing her first work, Balada de Amor ao Vento (Ballad of Love in the Wind) in 1990, she became the first woman to publish a book in independent Mozambique. In 2021, Chiziane became the first African woman to win the prestigious Camões prize, the highest honor for Lusophone writers. An English translation of O Alegre Canto da Perdiz (The Joyful Song of the Partridge) will be released later this year.
Moreira Chonguiça is a Mozambican saxophonist, jazz musician, producer, composer, and cultural influencer. Chonguiça began his musical journey in Maputo, Mozambique, where he began studying at the Escola Nacional de Música (ENM). After his studies in Maputo, he continued his education at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. With his global audience, Chonguiça takes pride in sharing his African sound with the broader world. His most recent album, Sounds of Peace, released in November 2022, draws on both western and African influences, while representing Mozambique’s unique cultural heritage through indigenous music themes and songs sung in local languages, including Makhuwa, Makonde, and Changana. Chonguiça has been twice nominated for Best African Album in the African Global Music Awards, and won an accolade with the same name in the Just Plain Folks Music Awards for his 2013 MP Reloaded.
Directions to Venue:
The event will be held at Georgetown University’s Main Campus located at 3700 O St NW Washington, DC 20057 in the Intercultural Center (ICC) Auditorium. The ICC is located towards the north of Georgetown’s campus, next to White-Gravenor Hall, Reiss Science Building, and Regents Hall. The auditorium is located on the ICC’s second floor (View the location of the ICC on a virtual map)
In terms of transportation, if you choose to drive yourself, please use 3611 Canal Road NW as the address and park in the Southwest Garage. See details on garage rates.
Other options include public transit, notably the Georgetown University Transportation System (view the schedule of buses) and the WMATA Metrobuses (the G2, D6, 33, 31, and 38B among others have stops close to Georgetown’s campus).
For those attending in person, if you need special accommodations, please contact Brennan Young at bmy9@georgetown.edu or Glória Alhinho at ma2007@georgetown.edu.