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 intended to epitomize opulent luxury with its Olympic swimming pool. The hotel was envisioned as a haven for wealthy tourists and businessmen. However, beyond hosting a Hollywood movie star and a few American Congressmen, the anticipated affluent clientele never materialized. Ultimately, the hotel became too costly to maintain with its limited patronage and closed its doors in 1963.
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, following Mozambique's independence, the bar adjacent to the swimming pool was converted into the office of Frelimo’s Revolutionary Committee. During the Mozambican Civil War, the hotel also served as a military base for Frelimo. In the 1980s, the Grand Hotel was repurposed as 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 over 3,500 squatters, who have established informal markets and a community leadership structure to govern activities within the building. Some residents now represent the third generation of informal occupants of what has become a vertical slum.
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 Maputo, Mozambique, and Tampa, Florida. He explores contemporary societal issues through storytelling and documentary techniques, focusing on marginalized individuals and often overlooked aspects of modern history. Following two deadly cyclones in Mozambique in 2019, Cuna began examining the impacts of climate change. He has trained at Sooke Photography School in Canada, Nuku Studio in Ghana, and the International Urban Photography Summer School at Goldsmiths University in London. His work has been featured at the Franco Moçambicano Cultural Center in Maputo and in galleries across Ghana, Portugal, Brazil, Ethiopia, and Canada. His series Madrinhas de Guerrawas shortlisted for the International Contemporary African Photography Award (2018) and won the Palm Springs Photo Festival Portfolio Prize (2018).