Amilton Neves Cuna
Amilton Neves Cuna, Untitled, from the series Nem tudo que brilha é ouro / All That Glitters Is Not Gold, 2019. © Amilton Neves Cuna
Nem tudo que brilha é ouro / All That Glitters Is Not Gold
In 1954, Francisco de Castro designed the Grand Hotel in Beira. An iconic Art Deco building meant to represent unlimited luxury with its Olympic swimming pool dreamed of hosting wealthy tourists and businessmen, neither of which materialized beyond one Hollywood movie star and a handful of American Congressmen passing through. Eventually the hotel became too costly to maintain with limited clientele, and in 1963 it closed doors.
Amilton Neves Cuna, Untitled, from the series Nem tudo que brilha é ouro / All That Glitters Is Not Gold, 2019. © Amilton Neves Cuna
Amilton Neves Cuna, Untitled, from the series Nem tudo que brilha é ouro / All That Glitters Is Not Gold, 2019. © Amilton Neves Cuna
In 1975 when Mozambique gained independence, the bar next to the swimming pool became the office of Frelimo’s Revolutionary Committee, and during the Mozambican Civil War served as a military base for Frelimo as well. In the 1980s, Grant Hotel became a refugee camp for those fleeing violence after the ZANU party came to power in Zimbabwe.
Amilton Neves Cuna, Untitled, from the series Nem tudo que brilha é ouro / All That Glitters Is Not Gold, 2019. © Amilton Neves Cuna
Today, the Grand Hotel is home to more than 3500 squatters, who have established informal markets and a community leadership structure that governs activities within the building. Some of its inhabitants now represent the third generation of informal residents of the vertical slum that is now the Grand Hotel.
Words by Amilton Neves Cuna
Amilton Neves Cuna, Untitled, from the series Nem tudo que brilha é ouro / All That Glitters Is Not Gold, 2019. © Amilton Neves Cuna
About Amilton Neves Cuna
Amilton Neves Cuna (b. 1988) is a photographer based in both Maputo, Mozambique and Tampa, Florida (USA) who examines contemporary societal issues using storytelling and documentary techniques. His past and current projects focus on addressing perceptions of individuals who find themselves at the margins of society through narratives of empowerment while preserving often forgotten aspects of our modern history. After Mozambique experienced two deadly cyclones only a month a part in 2019, he also began to explore the effects of climate change. Cuna has participated in training courses at the Sooke Photography School in Canada and Nuku Studio in Ghana, as well as the International Urban Photography Summer School at Goldsmiths University in London. He has been prominently featured several times at the Franco Moçambicano Cultural Center in Maputo Mozambique, as well as galleries in Ghana, Portugal, Brazil, Ethiopia and Canada. His collection Madrinhas de Guerra was shortlisted for the International Contemporary African Photography Award (2018) and won the Palm Springs Photo Festival Portfolio Prize (2018).