ENATY
MYSTICISM IS A CRUCIAL SOURCE OF COLLECTIVE POWER AND COLLECTIVE IDENTITY, FRONTING A GLOBALISED, COLONISED AND INDUSTRIALISED WORLD. CONFIDENTLY, THE MYSTICAL THOUGHT ACKNOWLEDGES NATURE’S OWN POWER TO DEFEND HERSELF. ITS PRACTICE OFFERS AN AVENUE OF EXPRESSION TO THE NATURAL FORCE THAT CREATES CORRECTION AND BALANCE AMONGST SOCIETY.
IRRATIONAL AND INTUITIVE, UNTRACEABLE IN TEXTS OR WRITINGS, THE SPIRITUAL BELIEF STRONGLY DEPENDS ON ORAL AND PRACTICAL TRANSMISSION; COLLECTIVE KNOWLE DGE AND FAITH IS PASSED ON FROM GENERATIONS TO GENERATIONS, CREATING AN INDESTRUCTIBLE BOND BETWEEN THE ELDER AND THE YOUTH, BETWEEN THE ROOTS AND THE BRANCHES.
IN THE VILLAGE OF DJIMANDE, IN CASAMANCE, MYSTICAL CONSTRUCTIONS AND TRADITIONAL BELIEF BASED ON ANIMISM ARE STILL BEING PRACTICED IN CLOSE SYMBIOSE WITH THE ENVIRONMENT. SAID TO BE ENCIRCLED BY A MYSTICAL DENSE FOREST CONSISTING OF AN ABUNDANCE OF BENEFICIAL TREES, LIKE THE SILK-COTTON TREE, MANGO TREE AND THE BAOBAB, THE PEOPLE OF DJIMANDE THOUGHTFULLY PROTECT THEIR CULTURAL HERITAGE. VARIOUS CEREMONIES, SUCH AS THE CALLING OF THE MASKS OF THE KUMPO, THE AGOMORA AND THE SAMAYE, DEFINE AND GUIDE THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF THE VILLAGE. ORNAMENTED WITH GRIGRIS AND ACCOMPANIED BY A MARABOUT, THE WOMEN OF DJIMANDE UNITE IN THE SACRED FOREST, WHERE THEY PERFORM CHANTS AND DANCING RITUALS TO PRAY FOR THEIR SISTERS AND THE IMMEDIATE NEEDS OF THEIR COMMUNITY.
DJIMANDE IS VERY DEA TO THE ASSOCIATION AUTOUR DE L’ENFANT, AS IT WAS THE FIRST VILLAGE IN SENEGAL WHERE THEY STARTED TO IMPLEMENT PROJECTS. PHOTOGRAPHER CHARLOTTE LAPALUS, WHO JOINT ADE SIX YEARS AGO, HAS BEEN SINCE DOCUMENTING AND COLLABORATING WITH THE PEOPLE OF DJIMANDE - ESPECIALLY WOMEN - TO CREATE A VISUAL JOURNEY INTO THE SACRED WORLD OF THIS WONDROUS PLACE IN CASAMANCE.
IRRATIONAL AND INTUITIVE, UNTRACEABLE IN TEXTS OR WRITINGS, THE SPIRITUAL BELIEF STRONGLY DEPENDS ON ORAL AND PRACTICAL TRANSMISSION; COLLECTIVE KNOWLE DGE AND FAITH IS PASSED ON FROM GENERATIONS TO GENERATIONS, CREATING AN INDESTRUCTIBLE BOND BETWEEN THE ELDER AND THE YOUTH, BETWEEN THE ROOTS AND THE BRANCHES.
IN THE VILLAGE OF DJIMANDE, IN CASAMANCE, MYSTICAL CONSTRUCTIONS AND TRADITIONAL BELIEF BASED ON ANIMISM ARE STILL BEING PRACTICED IN CLOSE SYMBIOSE WITH THE ENVIRONMENT. SAID TO BE ENCIRCLED BY A MYSTICAL DENSE FOREST CONSISTING OF AN ABUNDANCE OF BENEFICIAL TREES, LIKE THE SILK-COTTON TREE, MANGO TREE AND THE BAOBAB, THE PEOPLE OF DJIMANDE THOUGHTFULLY PROTECT THEIR CULTURAL HERITAGE. VARIOUS CEREMONIES, SUCH AS THE CALLING OF THE MASKS OF THE KUMPO, THE AGOMORA AND THE SAMAYE, DEFINE AND GUIDE THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF THE VILLAGE. ORNAMENTED WITH GRIGRIS AND ACCOMPANIED BY A MARABOUT, THE WOMEN OF DJIMANDE UNITE IN THE SACRED FOREST, WHERE THEY PERFORM CHANTS AND DANCING RITUALS TO PRAY FOR THEIR SISTERS AND THE IMMEDIATE NEEDS OF THEIR COMMUNITY.
DJIMANDE IS VERY DEA TO THE ASSOCIATION AUTOUR DE L’ENFANT, AS IT WAS THE FIRST VILLAGE IN SENEGAL WHERE THEY STARTED TO IMPLEMENT PROJECTS. PHOTOGRAPHER CHARLOTTE LAPALUS, WHO JOINT ADE SIX YEARS AGO, HAS BEEN SINCE DOCUMENTING AND COLLABORATING WITH THE PEOPLE OF DJIMANDE - ESPECIALLY WOMEN - TO CREATE A VISUAL JOURNEY INTO THE SACRED WORLD OF THIS WONDROUS PLACE IN CASAMANCE.
PHOTOGRAPHER CHARLOTTE LAPALUS
CURATED BY ERE, BETTINA DE BOISSE,
SOPHIE STROBELE
ART DIRECTION BENJAMIN GRILLON
MANY THANKS TO MAIMOUNA, RAMINATA,
ADAMA, TAPHA, SENY COLY, ALI, FANTA, BINTA,
DIEME, HYACINTHE AND OUR DJIMANDE FAMILY.
KINDLY SUPPORTED BY SHERIFF GALLERY
FINE ART PRINTING BY ART LAB
CLOSED 28/10 - 19/11
SHERIFF GALLERY
53 RUE DE TURENNE
75003 PARIS
CURATED BY ERE, BETTINA DE BOISSE,
SOPHIE STROBELE
ART DIRECTION BENJAMIN GRILLON
MANY THANKS TO MAIMOUNA, RAMINATA,
ADAMA, TAPHA, SENY COLY, ALI, FANTA, BINTA,
DIEME, HYACINTHE AND OUR DJIMANDE FAMILY.
KINDLY SUPPORTED BY SHERIFF GALLERY
FINE ART PRINTING BY ART LAB
EXHIBITION
CLOSED 28/10 - 19/11
SHERIFF GALLERY
53 RUE DE TURENNE
75003 PARIS
SUPPORTING
ALL PROCEEDS FROM THIS EXHIBITION WILL BE DONATED TO AUTOUR DE L’ENFANT TO FUND A SPECIFIC PROGRAM ELABORATED BY BETTINA DE BOISSE AND CHARLOTTE LAPALUS.
THE AIM IS TO PROVIDE EASY ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER IN DJIMAND BY INSTALLING SOLAR POWERED PUMP SYSTEMS AND FAUCETS ON TEN WELLS THROUGHOUT THE VILLAGE. TO THIS DAY, THERE IS NO RUNNING WATER, THE WELLS ARE PRIMARILY OPERATED BY WOMEN AND YOUNG GIRLS, WHO ARE EXPECTED TO PULL UP BUCKETS OF WATER FROM A 25 METERS-DEEP WELL A FEW TIMES A DAY, SPENDING AN AVERAGE OF TWO HOURS COLLECTING WATER EVERY DAY.
ADE SUPPORTS MOTHERS AND CHILDREN IN FRANCE, AFRICA AND OCEANIA. COMMITTED TO DJIMANDE SINCE 2014, ADE HAS BUILT A HEALTH CENTER AND MATERNITY WARD, TWO CLASSROOMS, SENDS SEVERAL MEDICAL MISSIONS EVERY YEAR, PUT AN EN TO FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATIONS, AND IS NOW DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE AN FAIR TOURISM IN THE VILLAGE TOGETHER WITH THE COMMUNITY OF DJIMANDE.
