This painting is a view of Mindelo, a port city in the northern part of the island of São Vicente, located in Cape Verde, islands west of the African continent.  It was painted by one of Cape Verde’s most admired artists, David Levy Lima (1945). Lima moved to Lisbon, Portugal in 1968 when Cape Verde was still a Portuguese colony. The country has continued to be one of the artist's main sources of inspiration.  Lima has said, “For me, the most important is people, their lives, the movement also.” He wants people to identify with the humanity in his paintings.

Illustrative of his style, this work exemplifies the techniques used throughout Lima’s career. Small brushstrokes layered over one another before the paint has time to dry, creating a softer scene with an iridescent quality, a work of contemporary impressionism. 

This gift of a painting was presented by the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, José Maria Neves, to the United Nations and Kofi Annan accepted it.