Angola Cinemas — Concrete Dreams of a Postcolonial Stage, Steidl 2015

This photobook by Walter Fernandes and Miguel Hurst, Angola Cinemas, published in 2015 by Steidl in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut, is part of the Darwin Bookshop because it documents one of the most unexpected and visionary chapters in modern architectural history. Across Angola, from the 1930s to the 1970s, dozens of cinemas were constructed — not just as functional buildings, but as monumental expressions of futurism, utopia, and modernity in concrete. Fernandes’ photographs, taken in 2013, offer a last look at these structures, many of which now stand in ruins, repurposed or abandoned, yet still radiating their former symbolism.

The buildings themselves — with sweeping parabolic forms, brutalist facades, and theatrical entrances — reflect the layered legacy of colonial ambition, African urban identity, and cinematic escape. Each photograph captures more than architecture: it captures a scene of cultural memory, where projection booths, ticket counters, and open-air balconies remain haunted by the communal act of watching. Hurst’s accompanying research contextualises the cinemas within Angola’s political and social shifts, tracing their roles in both colonial propaganda and post-independence imagination. This book is not just about buildings; it’s about what they held, and what they tried to promise.

Technical Sheet

Title: Angola Cinemas
Artist / Author: Walter Fernandes (photographs), Miguel Hurst (editor)
Date: 2015
Technique / Printing Method: Colour offset printing
Medium / Materials: Hardcover
Dimensions: Approx. 25 x 32 cm (landscape format)
Pages: Unspecified (est. ~200–250)
Publisher / Editor: Steidl / Goethe-Institut
ISBN: 978-3-86930-794-7
Language: Multilingual (includes English, Portuguese, likely German)
Condition: New