Journey into Oblivion
An artwork by Mia Couto, João Gil and Ana Mesquita

Bringing three different art forms together – the music of João Gil, poetry of Mia Couto and video art of Ana Mesquita – A Journey into Oblivion is a film, a triptych divided into twelve themes, invites visitors to journey through the most delicate aspects of history, continuously appealing to the memory of humankind’s past and its relationship with women, slaves, ancestors, migrants, the planet, cities, life and love.
The project includes a soundtrack by João Gil, with arrangements by Luís Figueiredo, twelve previously unpublished poems by Mia Couto – read by musicians including Maria Bethânia, Manuela Azevedo, Carlão and João Gil, actors Diogo Infante and Natália Luiza, and radio broadcaster Fernando Alves, joined by Ana Mesquita and João Gil – and video art by photographers and filmmakers, among which Ana Mesquita, Isabel Nolasco, Maria João Rodrigues, Mariana Teixeira, António Proença de Carvalho, Henrique Blanc, Pedro Senna Nunes, Sebastião Albuquerque, and Vasco Pinhol.
Lasting around 70 minutes, the installation is projected onto three screens which compete for the observer’s attention. This relationship is intensified by multiple stimuli which oblige the observer to make an instant decision as to which path to follow.

João Gil was born in 1955, in Covilhã, Portugal, and moved to Lisbon in his teen years. He is a composer and professional musician since 1976, and has been co-founder of renowned Portuguese bands, namely Trovante, Moby Dick, Ala dos Namorados, Rio Grande, Cabeças no Ar, Filarmónica Gil, Baile Popular, Quinteto Lisboa and Tais Quais. In collaboration with the lyricist João Monge, he has composed the fados for the project Fados de Amor e Pecado.
He has been the producer for the music albums of Isabel Silvestre, Janita Salomé and Mafalda Arnault, as well as the co-producer of the project Filhos da Madrugada. He has composed the scores for the films Flores Amargas, Rosa Negra, Adriana, and Mar, directed by Margarida Gil, as well as Ao Sul, directed by Fernando Matos Silva. He composed the soundtrack for the theater plays Ano do Pensamento Mágico, Sexo, Drogas e Rock’n Roll and Romeu e Julieta. 
He has composed and performed the soundtrack for the theater play Ode Marítima, written by Fernando Pessoa, with the Portuguese actor Diogo Infante.
In 2021 he created – together with the visual artist Ana Mesquita, who is also wife – the musical show Caixa de Luz.

Mia Couto is a writer and biologist, born in Beira, Mozambique in 1955.
He has published more than 30 books, namely of romance, poetry, short stories, essays and children’s books. His work has been published in 40 countries, and he has been awarded with the Prémio Nacional de Literatura (National Literature Prize) in Mozambique, the Prémio Camões, the Neustad Prize, the Jan Mijalski Prize, and has been a finalist on the Man Booker Prize. He is a member of the Academia Brasileira de Letras. He is married with Patrícia Silva, with whom he has three children, and lives and works in Maputo.

Ana Mesquita/MESQ was born in Mozambique, in 1967.
She graduated from the CITEX Design course in Oporto, in 1991, with a post-graduation in Journalism from the UAL / Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa. 
She worked as a professional journalist between 1993 and 2010, authoring several television and radio programs, as well as books and magazines, the latter both as creator and director. She restarted her artistic career in 2011 and has exhibited regularly in multiple museums and art galleries, both in Portugal and internationally.She has presented work in Serralves and on the Bienal de Cerveira, and has created relevant public art, murals and paintings, both in Cascais and in Oeiras. In 2021 she created the set design for several concerts.