Bela Duarte

Bela Duarte is an artist from Cape Verde. She was born on the island of São Vicente in Lisbon and studied decorative arts. After the Portuguese Carnation Revolution in 1974, she returned to Cape Verde and founded in Mindelo, together with Manuel Figueira and Luisa Queiros, the " Cooperativa da Resistência ". The common ethnographic research on weaving and handicrafts in the various islands of Cape Verde, she sees today as a great personal enrichment to identify with their country. In the " Centro Nacional de Artensanato " she taught dyeing, tapestry and batik.

Bela Duarte manufactures a wide variety of works: paintings in oil and acrylic, batik pictures, weavings and tapestries. In 1992 she founded together with Luisa Queirós in Mindelo gallery " azul azul = verde " for batik, handicrafts and painting.

Bela Duarte has participated since the 1970 years of success in numerous group exhibitions in Cape Verde, Brussels, Portugal, Paris and the USA. For their batiks she received in 1995 from the National Institute of Culture the prestigious " Fonte Lima Award"