Luanda's Evacuation

This flow follows the departing Portuguese as fear, material attachment, and the rush to escape reshape the city.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

The Refugee Tide

The Refugee Tide Flight toward the capital Portuguese families arrive in Luanda from across Angola, hoping to reach an overseas flight. The airport becomes a makeshift settlement where exhaustion, fear, and competition for seats replace any ordinary civic order. No fair rule Arguments over who deserves passage expose how difficult collective decisions become under pressure. Pregnant women, parents, the ill, and frightened men all plead their claims, while every departure leaves someone behind.

The Wooden City

The Wooden City Packing a former life As residents prepare to leave, they build crates for furniture, keepsakes, clothing, and household goods. The scale of the packing turns Luanda's streets into a second, temporary city made of wood. A divided escape The size and workmanship of the crates reveal economic differences among those fleeing. When the cargo is shipped away, the departing residents take much of their material past with them, while the stone city is left increasingly empty.

A City Left Behind

A City Left Behind Services disappear Police, firefighters, garbage collectors, shopkeepers, and hospital staff leave. Without ordinary workers, the abandoned center grows dirty, unsafe, and increasingly difficult to inhabit. The population changes The Dogs of Luanda roam after their owners flee, briefly surviving on army rations before disappearing too. The shrinking human and animal presence makes the city feel less like a home than a structure waiting to be emptied.

Late September 1975

Late September to November 1975

October 1975