MARIA

MARIA tells the story of Ana Maria, a woman whose silent contribution mirrors countless others who have shaped the world. At age 9, she left Angola, her homeland, under the promise of education — something that never happened. A Portuguese family brought her to Lisbon with a falsified signature from her father. Ana Maria had been trafficked. In Portugal, she was given a new name and birth year, 1965. At 24, she moved to the outskirts of Lisbon and worked tirelessly cleaning homes for over four decades. She learned to read and write while caring for children. MARIA explores the hidden history of racialized women in Portugal, whose lives are shaped by the country's colonial past. This work, presented as a diary with photography and collages, restores her erased memories, asserting her right to memory and citizenship.