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While Cape Verdean emigration has been of interest to researchers for decades, immigration to the archipelago is still very little studied. However, it has increased significantly since the beginning of the 2000s. The arrival of workers from continental West Africa has contributed to the reconfiguration of social space, as can be seen in Santa Maria, south of Sal Island, where social relations are being reshaped. Here I discuss these reconfigurations through the study of discursive practices aiming to make African art a Cape Verdean specialty in order to encourage its sale; I question the articulation of these practices with the mobilization of the discursive categorization mandjak, frequently used by residents to describe migrants and whose ambiguity is based on the fluctuation of identification with Africa.