Interview with Monique Widmer and Gilda Barbosa, museum founders and
friends from Fogo.

LEAP IN TIME. TIME HISTORY.

According to Monique and Gilda "every piece, no matter how small it is, has its own history". Twenty years ago, they founded "Casa da Memória", a cultural centre and museum in the historic centre of São Filipe on Fogo. Monique and Gilda are retired social workers and met through international charities many decades ago. Two strong women with an exciting story are making history to their life's work. Monique is originally from Switzerland and came to Cape Verde for work reasons after a few years in Portugal; Gilda comes from a long-established Cape Verdean family from Fogo.

 

vista verde tours: "Casa da Memória" celebrates its 20th anniversary this year - congratulations. Since 20 years, Monique has been looking after, collecting, researching and archiving her exhibits in São Filipe on Fogo in order to make them accessible to the public - how did you get the idea to create "Casa da Memória"?
Monique: We can't say exactly when we had the idea for Casa da Memória. The house where Casa da Memória and the library are located belonged to Gilda's family, the Barbosa family. I bought the house with the intention of creating a public, cultural space. The idea developed further when we found some exciting everyday objects that were about to be forgotten. After many and long conversations, it was clear that these things should be remembered, so the idea of creating the House of Memories was born.

vista verde tours: With this initiative you have paved new paths and you have worked together with strong people. What contents and values play a particular role here, has there been a change throughout time?
Gilda: With simple everyday objects, but also with documents about the history of the Cape Verde islands, and - of course - with the focus on Fogo. Casa da Memória does not only target foreign visitors, but also locals, thus history is preserved and kept alive. Our aim is to ensure that history will not be forgotten. Through our collection, it also remains more alive for younger generations. It is of high importance to us to preserve the cultural heritage.

vista verde tours: You create space for experiences in the museum to make everyday culture tangible. What are the medium- or long term goals of this project? Have you already been able to achieve some of these goals?
Monique: Not only furniture and everyday objects are in Casa da Memória, but there are also many old documents and books. Gilda's family is a very well-read family, so some old treasures have been preserved here. However, these individual items are not open to the public, but can be seen upon request. We achieved one main goal in 2015 after photographing and cataloguing over 700 items.

---