Born on the island of Santo Antão in 1948. Graduated in Fine Arts and Design from the Lisbon School of Fine Arts, PhD in Literature from the University of Rennes II, France.  Founder of Atelier Mar - NGO (1979) and M_EIA, University Institute of Art, Technology, and Culture (2004). 

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In addition to teaching, he has been intensely active over the years in the fields of Fine Arts, Design, Cinema, and Architecture. In this field, he won the Global LafargeHolcim Awards, 2021, for sustainable architecture. In this context, he published Manual Básico de Construção (Basic Construction Manual) (2001) and is co-author of Manual de Arquitectura Sustentável de Cabo Verde (Cabo Verde Sustainable Architecture Manual); Manual de Arquitectura Sustentável de São Tomé e Príncipe (São Tomé and Príncipe Sustainable Architecture Manual) and others related to PALOP countries, including East Timor.  

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As a filmmaker, he directed the first Cape Verdean feature film, Ilhéu de Contenda, and in the field of literature and scientific research, he is the author of several works and essays.