Abdel Queta Tavares // Nha Fala

Nha fala
ABDEL QUETA TAVARES
solo exhibition
1 – 30 March 2019

Underdogs Gallery is proud to announce “Nha fala”, the first solo exhibition by Bissau-Guinean photographer Abdel Queta Tavares, in Lisbon, Portugal.
The show reveals the artist’s unique gaze through a body of work comprising photographic portraits printed in medium and large format.
In the Creole of Guinea-Bissau, where Abdel
Queta Tavares comes from, “nha fala” means
“my voice”. If the set of photographic portraits showcased here is a materialisation of his
voice as an artist, it is also an expression of
his struggle – a struggle for the discovery and the refinement of this voice of his, but also for recognition.

About the artist:
Abdel Queta Tavares, who was born in 1992 in Guinea- Bissau, is a photographer, creative director and stylist. At the age of 14 he moved with his family to Lisbon, where he remained for the next 10 years. It was there that his creative side began to flourish, beginning with the purchase of a simple camera, taking self-portraits at home and eventually leading to a deep passion for photography. Queta Tavares is inspired and motivated by everything that leads him to the contemplation
of life, that makes him feel special and that brings
joy: colours, smiles, faces, details, expressions and
all things that add to his creativity and inspire him to take photographs. In 2016 he moved to London, where he was discovered in a Shoreditch shop by the British photographer David Cantor, who became mesmerised by his outfit and red hat and asked to take his portrait. That same photograph went on to win the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize, one of the most prestigious photographic awards in the world, having been presented at the National Portrait Gallery and in many other locations in London.
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