This is Mafalala, Maputo’s most famous neighbourhood — a place enshrined in the guidebooks as the cradle of Mozambique’s post-independence culture.<\/p>\n
But as a rough district in one of the world’s poorest countries, residents struggle to capitalise on their community’s heritage.<\/p>\n
Three years ago, a group of students and professionals decided to change that by opening a museum to preserve the district’s history and culture.<\/p>\n
“We usually say that Mafalala is the capital of Maputo,” said Ivan Laranjeira, director of the Mafalala Museum.<\/p>\n
“This is the heart and the soul of the city.”<\/p>\n
The mustard-yellow building stands out among a sea of sheet metal roofs.<\/p>\n
Most young people in Mafalala survive day to day, relying on informal work, unable to fully exploit their heritage and creativity.<\/p>\n
Yet the district has produced two Mozambican presidents, Samora Machel and Joaquim Chissano, legendary footballer Eusebio da Silva Ferreira, and poet Jose Craveirinha.<\/p>\n
Since the 19th century, Mafalala has attracted workers from rural Mozambique, lured by cheap rent and short commutes to the city centre.<\/p>\n
With 30 of Mozambique’s languages spoken here, the district is a hub of cultural diversity.<\/p>\n
Pubs rub shoulders with mosques and evangelical churches, between concrete block walls covered with colourful murals.<\/p>\n
Tourists are welcome to take walking tours and sample the local cuisine, but they are rare.<\/p>\n
Rich heritage<\/p>\n
“There is something special in particular about Mafalala, and that is the reason why this is a historical place,” said Laranjeira, flanked by black and white pictures of some of the country’s greatest past leaders on the wall behind him.<\/p>\n
“Mafalala is a neighbourhood that is actually a living museum.”<\/p>\n
Signs stuck in the dusty streets list some of the local attractions. Machel’s house. Eusebio’s birthplace. And a tribute to Craveirinha’s poetry, capturing the spirit of the place.<\/p>\n
But many of the homes of the district’s famous figures have fallen into ruin, or are now occupied by new residents.<\/p>\n
It was in Mafalala’s alleys that revolutionary spirits were raised and nurtured against Portuguese colonisers, culminating in a decade-long war that paved the way to independence in 1975.<\/p>\n
Since then, the revolutionaries have led the country, but the euphoria of liberation has died down.<\/p>\n
Now young, barefoot players kick footballs in the sand, in front of an imposing graffiti image of Eusebio.<\/p>\n
Back at the museum, Laranjeira — who has spent the past 15 years working to preserve the history of the district — explains the items on display.<\/p>\n
One is a handmade guitar fashioned from a tin box, with strings made from motorbike spokes. It was used by earlier singers of “Marrabenta,” a popular national dance genre.<\/p>\n
There are traditional costumes, as well as a rag football like the one used by Eusebio, who catapulted Portugal’s team to worldwide fame in the 1960s.<\/p>\n
But it’s not only the collections on display that matter here. The museum is also a cultural education centre for the neighbourhood’s youth.<\/p>\n
Music is a big part of the district’s culture.<\/p>\n
“Mafalala was a birthplace for musical creation,” said rapper Danilo Malele, known by his stage name ‘Kloro’. He’s composed a song dedicated to the district, called “Show na mayf”.<\/p>\n
The district’s musical potential is thwarted by poverty, he said. Musicians “are not worried about doing music” but “start and then leave it behind because they have other priorities”.<\/p>\n
Jamal Age agrees. The 28-year-old brags that he’s the best dancer in Mafalala, at least when it comes to breakdancing. But he says there’s no future in it.<\/p>\n
“We love our culture, whether it’s dancing, singing, music. But the problem is that we don’t have enough money to fund these arts,” Age said.<\/p>\n
When he’s not dancing and recording his performances on the city’s rooftops, he makes sofas in a workshop on the street.<\/p>\n
Now gentrification looms, threatening to push residents to the outskirts of the metropolis.<\/p>\n
Just a few blocks away are some of Mafalala’s plushest villas and trendiest terraces — part of a grand refurbishment of the old city centre, now home to expatriates and rich elites.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Turn a corner in Mozambique’s seaside capital Maputo, and the skyline vanishes. Colonial Portuguese buildings and mid-century modernist apartment blocks give way to a maze of rutted alleys crammed with tin-roofed shacks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":8663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,16],"tags":[7,30,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-8666","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture","8":"category-news","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-culture","11":"tag-news"},"yoast_head":"\n