Jo Ractliffe

Audioguide

Jo Ractliffe photographed this tiled mural at the fortress of São Miguel in Luanda, capital of Angola. This fort was built by the Portuguese and was an important center during the slave trade with Brazil during the 17th century. The massive structure still exists, although only traces of its former splendour remain.

Ractliffe first travelled to Angola in 2007, five years after the country’s protracted civil war ended (1975-2002). This conflict, which displaced millions, intertwined with the South African Border War (1966-1990) that swept across Angola and Namibia as both countries struggle to break free from South African rule. Working in analogue, Ractliffe focusses her camera on details that can easily be missed, recording evidence of the past and exploring the after-effects of this war in her black-and-white photographs. Unlike classical documentary photography, her images don't show subjects that are immediately comprehensible. Drawn from two series, Terreno Ocupado (Occupied Land, 2007) and As Terras do Fim do Mundo (The Lands of the End of the World, 2009-10), the photographs in this room initially appear innocuous. The natural world seems unspoilt and tranquil until one looks very closely, prompted by the titles which reveal that we're looking at former battlefields, mined terrain and mass graves.

"The residues of those and more recent histories of violence and disaster still live in these landscapes in subtle and ephemeral ways."