Santana

By:

Jessica Bastidas

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This video shows excerpts from two different plantations. One is still used to harvest cocoa in order to produce chocolate. The other, is located closer into the island’s interior. You have to hike along the mountainside through dense forest to reach the platform that supports a now crumbling building.

 Santana islocated on the eastern part of São Tome and is the fourth largest city after São Tomé, Trinidade and Neves with a population of 6,969 for the town. It serves as the capital of the Cantagalo district. In Santana, we interviewed local fishermen on the nature of their spirituality. Some practice a mixture of Animism (originating from mainland Africa from areas such as Mosambique and Angola) with Catholocism instituted by the Portuguese. Additionally, local women come to help pull in the boats. They carry large baskets on their heads to hold the fish, snails, squid, and shark that is caught at sea. In the slideshow, you can see Carmen skillfully gutting a shark while children play in the sand. While in Santana, we did small drawings and paintings of the people and the landscape. Additionally, we created found object pieces and sand sculptures with the children.

Jessica Bastidas

Hello, my name is Jessica Bastidas. I am sophomore at the Maryland Institute College of the Arts in Baltimore, MD currently pursuing a Dual Degree in Illustration and Humanistic Studies and a Masters in Art Education. The diverse subject matter and mediums demonstrated in my art reflect my interest in all facets of illustration and my quest to develop the skills and working process necessary to effectively synergize text and imagery in such a way that they will successfully communicate the central moral of the work to a child audience. I learned the power of believing, the strength of confidence, and the joy of experiencing something new—all from books. With lessons in British and English Literature, Creative Writing, and Child Psychology, paired with a strong artistic education, I hope to learn the techniques necessary to write and illustrate stories that help children deal with issues such as bullying and divorce while simultaneously empowering them with the character traits necessary for success including compassion, confidence, and commitment. Potentially, these lessons will help the youth as they mature and determine a positive direction for the future of our community and culture. By joining the Maryland Institute College of Art’s illustration program at Sao Tome and Principe, I not only reflect my interest in the field of Children’s book, visual journalism, and editorial illustration, but also wish to answer my questions concerning how to influence a person from a different cultural background through the communication of common themes. I hope that through travel and exposure, I can uncover what this universal commonalities are—enabling me to substitute the cruel constraints of a mundane reality with the infinite possibility of growth, change, and development.