See My Story: Copyright by Madgermanes | The exhibition

See my Story. Copyright by Madgermanes

6 digital stories | 12 collaborative self-portraits

Between 1979 and 1990, around 20,000 young people from Mozambique lived and worked in the GDR. They had come as part of bilateral agreements between the two states; they were needed as workers, they were valued, but they were also treated with hostility. With the end of the GDR, many lost not only their jobs, but also the prospect of continuing their lives in Germany. The exhibition highlights a historical chapter that has long been overshadowed by German history. It provides a platform for former Mozambican contract workers – the so-called Madgermanes. In six digital stories and twelve collaborative self-portraits, Madgermanes tell their stories and show how strongly their time in the GDR shaped their lives – and continues to do so today.

Digital storytelling and collaborative self-portraits make the Madgermanes active creators. In the artistic process, they decide for themselves what is told, in what form and with which images. The result is subjective, honest and impressive perspectives on a shared past.

See my Story. Copyright by Madgermanes sees itself as a contribution to the culture of remembrance, both in Germany and in Mozambique. It is about recognition, visibility and a more equitable historical narrative. For history is not only made up of major political events, but is shaped by the biographies of the people affected by them.

The exhibition builds bridges between countries and continents, as well as between people of different generations. And it reminds us to honour repressed history – before it is forgotten.

See my Story. Copyright by Madgermanes was created during a five-day workshop in Maputo in September 2025. The storytellers were accompanied in the process by Sabine Felber (project idea, artistic and project management/Berlin) as well as Kátia Manjate (choreography and dramaturgy/Maputo) and Kayesun Assis (media/Maputo).

Storytellers and collaborative self-portraits: Manuela Nhancume, Filomena Vassoa, Lucia Bila, Antonio Hoana, Lurdes Eli Uate, Jose Cossa, Mario Sitoe, Arnaldo Mendes, Nelson Munhequete, Julia Rungu, Augusta Mukandua, Julião Mutondo

zur deutschsprachigen Ausstellung

12 collaborative self-portraits

Nelson Munhequete

Nelson Munhequete stayed in the GDR from 1987 to 1990, with a short interruption. He worked at the VEB Glasseidenwerk Oschatz.

In 2017, he returned to Germany for an interview about his fate as a former contract worker in the GDR.
“I like the German language and really enjoyed my time in the GDR. I learned a lot there.

Germany is a place where I found friends whom I still miss. Back then, they became a second family to me.
In 1987, during my first year in the GDR, there were some violent incidents between us Mozambicans and young Germans. But in the following years, things calmed down and we were treated normally.
In Oschatz, there weren’t as many problems with racism as in other places anyway.

What I especially liked were the clubs and the German music. I discovered the Puhdys 12 album by the Puhdys, the band Karat, the singer Petra Ziegler, and the singer Roland Kaiser.”

In 1980, Augusta Mucandua flew to the GDR. She was 18 years old then. She arrived in Karl-Marx-Stadt, which is now called Chemnitz. From there, she went on to the VEB Weberei in Mittweida. For the next three years, Augusta produced yarn for fabric production.

Alongside her work, she experienced many things for the first time as a young woman. Unfortunately, she also learned about the connection between two events: a pregnancy led to her deportation from the GDR.

Her contract was ended early, and she was forced to return to Mozambique in 1983.

“If only I could go back to Germany. We came back to Mozambique and are suffering here because there is no work. If we were in Germany, at least we could work.”

Augusta Mucandua

Lúcia Bila

Lúcia Bila says of herself that her life is a sad one.

But there is also her laughter, which springs from a deep source of strength that has carried her through all these years. Lúcia had to grow up early. Coming from a poor family, she left Mozambique at the age of just sixteen. In 1980, she went to the GDR as a contract worker. There she worked in the cotton mill in Karl-Marx-Stadt. And she fell in love for the first time. Beautiful years followed.

When her contract ended in 1984, Lúcia became pregnant. She had to return to Mozambique, where she gave birth to her son. Later, the child’s father followed, and they married. It could have been the beginning of a happy family story. But things turned out differently.

Today, Lúcia lives in Mozambique and her son in Germany. Continents and worlds lie between them, and contact is sparse. Her granddaughter is growing up far away from her. Lúcia cannot watch her grow into a young woman.

Yes, it’s a sad story. Perhaps one day her granddaughter will come to visit her on her own. ‘God willing,’ Lúcia would say now.

José Cossa speaks German well. Today, he works as a German teacher in Matola.

Calmly, he talks about his time in the GDR. Starting in 1987, José trained as a bookbinder at VEB Grafischer Großbetrieb Völkerfreundschaft (later Dresdner Druck- und Verlagshaus). He recalls many experiences — both good and bad.
After German reunification, he initially stayed in Germany as a student. But there is one day in 1991 he will never forget: the day when a racist attack in Saxony claimed its first victim.

José was there at the time. He and several Mozambican friends were subjected to racist insults by neo-Nazis on a tram and were eventually attacked. Almost all of them managed to escape — except Jorge João Gomondai. He was pushed out of the tram — that’s how José remembers it. Perhaps it was through a window, perhaps through the open door. The only certainty is this: Jorge fell from the tram and later died in hospital from his injuries.

Traumatized by this experience, José abandoned his studies. He no longer felt safe in Germany. In 1992, he returned to Mozambique.

José Cossa

Júlia Rungo

In 1988, Júlia Rungo worked as a machine operator at VEB Chemiefaserwerk Premnitz, a factory that manufactured polyacrylonitrile fibres, among other things. After working in the GDR for a year, she visited her family in Mozambique for a month. She then returned to the GDR one last time: with German reunification in 1990, the history of the state and Júlia’s employment contract came to an end. She had to leave for Mozambique for good.

„I didn’t have the opportunity to travel more and get to know Germany better. My dream was to get married there. But that didn’t happen because we weren’t allowed to. If I had the opportunity to return to Germany, I would like to see more of the country and learn the German language better.

Through my work in the GDR, I contributed to the growth of the country.“

Arnaldo Mendes left Maputo in 1988 to work at the VEB Walzwerk Finow rolling mill in Eberswalde/ GDR.

„I arrived in Germany in the middle of winter, in cold February. After six months of settling in, learning the language and attending technical college, I was first assigned to one department and then another, where I operated machines. I was very impressed by the work culture of the people, the precision in everything they did, the discipline, the punctuality. This had such an impact on me that to this day I always arrive 15 minutes before any event.

Of course, as a young man, I had my romances; I dated a few German girls, but in the end, I stayed with Doris. She was very sweet, had lost her mother and lived with her father and younger sister. I stayed with her until I returned to my country. I miss her.“

Arnaldo Mendes

Lurdes Eli Uate

In 1982, Lurdes Eli Uate left her home country, Mozambique, full of hope. As a talented young woman, she received a scholarship that was supposed to allow her to study in the GDR.

But when she arrived in Cottbus, she encountered a very different reality. Instead of sitting in a lecture hall, she found herself working on an assembly line; instead of studying books, she was employed at the VEB Textilkombinat. She felt deceived — but there was nothing she could do about it.

In 1985, Lurdes returned to Mozambique. Now she wanted to study medicine. But she could not afford the tuition fees. And so, in 1987, she set out once again for the GDR.

This time, she worked for almost four years at the VEB Rathenower Optische Werke. There, she met people and formed friendships — including a particularly close one with a German woman, Andrea Weiss. And she discovered something that left a deep impression on her: in the GDR, women stood side by side with men as equals.

In 1990, Lurdes returned to Mozambique for good. A year later, Andrea and her husband visited her there. After that, the two friends lost contact. Will Lurdes ever have the chance to see Andrea again?

On 20 May 1988, Mário Sitoe left Mozambique and arrived in the GDR the following day. He was employed as a contract worker at the VEB Brikettfabrik ‘Glückauf’ Knappenrode, an open-cast lignite briquetting plant. During the first six months, he learned German and attended technical college. In November 1988, he was transferred to a workshop for drainage technology, where he worked as a skilled worker in pipe assembly. He got on well with his German colleagues.

In January 1989, Mário spent his first holiday in Rostock and Wismar on the Baltic Sea. Also in 1989, he visited the Buchenwald concentration camp memorial near Weimar. On another trip, he visited the Sachsenhausen concentration camp memorial in Oranienburg. It was a deeply moving experience for him.

Mário formed close friendships with Germans in the GDR, whom he describes as family. Together with them, he visited many cities, including Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, Karl-Marx-Stadt (Chemnitz), Magdeburg, Halle and Schwerin. During the period of reunification, Mário travelled to Poland and Czechoslovakia.

„My stay in Germany was a great honour for me; setting foot on European soil was a dream come true. I still cherish my memories of Germany, which I can share with my children and grandchildren. I have had the experience of living with people of different ethnicities, including Cubans, Vietnamese, Angolans, Poles and others. I dream of travelling to Germany again. I miss Bockwurst and Schnitzel“.

Mário Sitoe

Filomena Vassoa

Filomena Vassoa is a true traveller. Born in Nampula, around 2,000 kilometres from the capital Maputo, she left her home country of Mozambique in 1981 at the age of 18. She came to the GDR as a contract worker and got to know many different cities and companies there: Ilmenau, Lengefeld, Markranstädt, and with them everyday working life at VEB Elektroglas, the VEB Narva ‘Rosa Luxemburg’ combine and VEB Möbelwerk.

In her free time, Filomena sometimes sat alone in the park with a book. When Germans approached her and she told them about Mozambique, they usually reacted with amazement. Long-distance travel and discovering the world remain denied to most GDR citizens. But Filomena felt privileged because she was able to experience exactly that: distant countries, different ways of life, new perspectives.

During her time in the GDR, she formed friendships and close, deep connections that remain to this day. In 1985, Filomena returned to Mozambique for a month-long holiday. Afterwards, she returned to the GDR. In 1986, she became pregnant, gave birth to her child in Mozambique and stayed at home with him for three years. In 1989, she travelled to the GDR again. But with German reunification, this chapter of her life came to an end: Filomena left Germany for good.

She also lived in Brazil for a few years. But that’s another story.

Mozambique has yet to step onto the grand stage of a Football World Cup. And yet, this country has produced players who, with passion and skill, have left their mark on the game. One of them is António Hoana.

Born on 25 August 1967 in Marracuene, about thirty kilometres north of the capital Maputo, António grew up with the dream of playing football. His talent was discovered early on, and at the age of 16, the renowned sports school Grupo Desportivo Maputo opened its doors to him. It was there that the idea of perhaps becoming a professional footballer one day began to take shape.

But António had to support himself — he needed a second source of income beyond his love for the game. A friend told him about the opportunity of earning money in the GDR. And so, in 1988, he left his homeland to work and study at the VEB Chemiefaserwerk Premnitz.

When António returned to Mozambique after German reunification in 1990, he brought with him two certificates: one qualifying him as a forklift operator, and another stating that he would never be able to play football again. An injury had taken that dream from him.

But a passion for football is not so easily torn from one’s heart. António still loves the game. And he still loves movement. He can still dance — even with the scar he carries from that time in the GDR.

António Hoana

Julião Mutondo

Julião Mutondo arrived in Dresden in 1980, where he first took a language course and learned German. Three months later, he started working at VEB Rohrkombinat Stahl- und Walzwerk Riesa, initially as a simple train attendant. In just two years, he managed to climb the ranks and became a shunting supervisor and train driver.

In 1984, he travelled with his entire group of Mozambican contract workers to spend their holidays in Mozambique. Shortly after their arrival, all their passports were confiscated and only returned shortly before their return to the GDR. As Julião’s passport was lost, he was forced to stay in the country for another two months, while the rest of the group returned without him.

When his passport was finally found, Julião was able to leave immediately. However, his return was not communicated to the Dresden company, and his sudden arrival caused some surprise. After some back and forth, he managed to return to his job. After all, he was a highly esteemed colleague and performed his work with great competence.

In total, Julião spent ten years in the GDR. In 1990, he returned to Mozambique on the occasion of German reunification.

Manuela Nhancume was born in Maputo in the 1960s. Not yet 18 years old, she left her homeland to study, work and grow up in the GDR.

And she did so quickly. Manuela was hungry for knowledge; she loved discovering new things and taking on responsibility. With her open manner, her talent for languages and her keen sense of people, she became an interpreter, a bridge builder between worlds. But she did not stop at just one job. She also worked in production and drove vehicles as a motorist, always ready to do more, learn more, be more.

She lived in the GDR almost without interruption from 1980 until reunification in 1990 – and would probably have stayed. Like so many contract workers, Manuela was sent back to Mozambique in 1990.

In her home in Maputo, there are still mementos from that time: glasses, kitchen utensils, small things full of meaning. But the most valuable thing remains invisible: what she carries within her.

Manuela still feels a bit German, shaped by a culture that has long since disappeared. And she remembers. Because ‘to remember is to live’.

See my Story. Copyright by Madgermanes

6 digital stories | 12 collaborative self-portraits

12 collaborative self-portraits

Nelson Munhequete

Augusta Mucandua

Lúcia Bila

José Cossa

Júlia Rungo

Arnaldo Mendes

Lurdes Eli Uate

Mário Sitoe

Filomena Vassoa

António Hoana

Julião Mutondo

Manuela Nhancume

6 digitale Stories

Filomena Vassoa

António Hoana

Lúcia Bila

José Cossa

Lurdes Eli Uate

Manuela Nhancume

A project by

and Sabine Felber

In cooperation with

Funded by