Bela Duarte

Isabel "Bela" Duarte (1940 — 20 June 2023) was a Cape Verdean artist.

Born on São Vicente, Cape Verde in 1940, she studied decorative arts in Lisbon, Portugal and took the drawing course at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes [pt]. By 1974, she returned to Cape Verde and taught drawing.[1] Together with Manuel Figueira and Luísa Queirós,[2][3] she created the Cooperativa da Resistência (The Resistance Cooperative), later the Centro Nacional de Artesanato (CNA) to preserve traditional Cape Verdean crafts.[3] There she taught weaving, tapestry, and batik.[1]

Bela Duarte made her works and painted in oil and acrylic, batik maker, webbing and one other. In 1992, along with Queiros, she presented in a gallery in Mindelo "azul + azul = verde" for batik, craftsmanship and artist.[4]

In the 1970s, Bela Duarte successfully took place in numerous art exhibitions in Cape Verde, Belgium, Portugal, France, and the United States.[1] For her batik work in 1995, she was received by the national cultural institute the renominated Fonte Lima Prize.^[citation needed]

In 2023, she was scheduled to participate in the "Alma das Ilhas Tour" arranged by Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva.[5] However, she died in the afternoon on 20 June. The following day, her death was announced by Minister of Culture Luisa, who said her art is "immortalized".[1]

Awards

Source:[1]

• 2010 — First Class of the Ordem do Vulcão
• 2018 — First Class of the Mérito da República de Cabo Verde

References

1. Ramos, Rita (21 June 2023). "Artista cabo-verdiana Bela Duarte morre aos 83 anos". A Semana (in Portuguese). Praia. ProQuest 2827895707
2. "Cultura de luto: Artista plástico Manuel Figueira morre aos 85 anos no Mindelo". A Semana (in Portuguese). Praia. 8 October 2023. ProQuest 2827895707
3. Nolasco, Ana (October 2018). "Designing national identity through cloth: pánu di téra of Cape Verde". Island Studies Journal. 13 (2): 13. doi:10.24043/isj.65. ProQuest 2137109941
4. Fontes, Francisco (2006). Tchuba na desert: antologia do conto inédito caboverdiano (in Portuguese). Saúde em Português. p. 202. ISBN 978-989-20-0406-8. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
5. "Cape Verde: 51 names of Cape Verdean figures on the "Alma das Ilhas Tour". MENA Report. London. 30 January 2023. ProQuest 2771092058

External links

• Photo of Bela Duarte at Mindelo Infos