Multiple perspectives on the story of the retornados - A round-table about a pivotal moment in 20th century Portuguese history in connection with Lilla Szász's exhibition Greetings from my new home

Participants:

• João Miguel Henriques, director of Centro de Língua Portuguesa do Camões
• Dr. Christoph Kalter, Freie Universität Berlin
• Lilla Szász, photographer
  
  

As a result of the Portuguese colonial wars which began in 1961, the New State dictatorship gradually weakened, and with the military coup of 1974, a rapid process of decolonization began. The accommodation and integration of the retornados (returnees from Portuguese colonies), equivalent to over five percent of Portugal’s overall population at the time, was a major challenge for the state and constituted an important chapter in the 20th-century history of the country.

Lilla Szász’s photographs capture the personal aspects of this historical event, drawing attention to questions of nostalgia, memory, homelessness, and the plasticity of identity in the lives of those who have left their homes and were able, in varying degrees, to adapt to their new environments.

Dr. Christoph Kalter of Freie Universität Berlin and photographer Lilla Szász will share how they both, independently from one another, became interested in this pivotal moment of Portuguese history. By means of their own set of artistic and scholarly tools, they will relay to us multiple perspectives – historical, sociological and artistic – of the story of the retornados.

João Miguel Henriques, director of Centro de Língua Portuguesa do Camões will be the moderator of the English-language round-table discussion. The event can be attended with a regular exhibition ticket.

The exhibition and the event are sponsored by the Goethe-Institut and the Centro de Língua Portuguesa do Camões.