O Mundo Imaginário arose from the question: what if girls were invited into spaces of play usually reserved for boys?

Even today, the echoes of colonisation shape social relations and reinforce gender inequality, often expressed through the structurally subordinate position of women. While women’s realities have evolved, fundamental issues such as safety, visibility, and participation remain deeply uneven. These tensions are particularly visible in daily life in São Tomé.

Through play and imagination, children offer a counterpoint to these realities. Across the island, boys are frequently seen playing with tábuas — self-made bodyboards — in games that express creativity and open space for new forms of interaction. These acts of collective play reveal possibilities for a renewed social imagination.

O Mundo Imaginário creates space for such possibilities by inviting girls to take part in games traditionally reserved for boys. Through shared play and learning, the project embraces the unifying force of play and frames it as a tool for reflection, agency, and transformation.

Presented during the 10th São Tomé Biennial, À (Re)descoberta de NÓS ("Rediscovering Ourselves"), the installation combines two paintings with a tábua crafted by the generation that first introduced this form of play in Santana. During the project, girls participated in the game for the first time. The tábua becomes both an object of cultural resurgence and a symbol of shifting gender dynamics.
Together, the installation reflects on the colonial past and its ongoing impact on gender, while opening space for new imaginaries of relation, participation, and shared futures.