Bertina Lopes is a Mozambican painter and sculptor whose work highlighted the social criticism and nationalistic fervour that influenced other Mozambican artists of her time. She was born in the capital of Mozambique, Lourenço Marques, today Maputo. The daughter of a Portuguese father and African mother, she left Mozambique early in her life to study art in Lisbon.

Her travels to Portugal led her to meet key individuals, such as expressionist Carlos Botelho and surrealist Marcelino Macedo Vespeira. Bertina was inspired by and engaged with the Avant-garde painting of Portuguese Modernism. It was there that she was able to view exhibitions of a diverse range of artists from South American graffiti to Western painters.

Lopes r...