Bela Duarte

Isabel "Bela" Duarte (1940 – 20 June 2023) was a Cape Verdean artist.

Born on São Vicente, Cape Verde in 1940, she studied decorative arts in Lisbon, Portugal and took the drawing course at the . By 1974, she returned to Cape Verde and taught drawing. Together with Manuel Figueira and Luísa Queirós, she created the Cooperativa da Resistência (The Resistance Cooperative), later the Centro Nacional de Artesanato (CNA) to preserve traditional Cape Verdean crafts.

In the 1970s, Bela Duarte successfully took place in numerous art exhibitions in Cape Verde, Belgium, Portugal, France, and the United States. However, she died in the afternoon on 20 June. The following day, her death was announced by Minister of Culture Luisa, who said her art is "immortalized".

Awards Source:

2010 — First Class of the Ordem do Vulcão 2018 — First Class of the Mérito da República de Cabo Verde