Les Berbères
For several years, Ferhat Bouda documents in black and white Amazighs’ life. Thus, he takes part in the struggle against their assimilation and the oblivion they are assign to. Not entering into the nation state logic, Amazighs (or “Berbers” which means “free people”) live in a vast territory, spread from the Atlantic costs of Morocco to the Siwa oasis in Egypt.
Singular and pluralist, the Berber culture is one of the ancient but also of the little known and threatened of North Africa.
Oppressed, scattered, even sometimes persecuted, Berbers are deeply emotionally attached to their traditions and stand up for what they are. Nomadic or settled; Muslim, Christian of Jewish, they represent a minority resisting to tyranny.
Ferhat Bouda here displays two parts of his project : images from his trips to Niger and Morocco. They show in both case isolated tribes protecting their customs from external influences, at the cost of oblivion and disregard. Amazighs are abandoned by the government and most of the time live without electricity, without any schools or free clinics. They still manage to be self-sufficient thanks to their ancestral beliefs. Frequently, men leave the village to work in the city. Women are then the pillar, the guardians of Amazighs’ traditions vivid memory.
DETAILS
35 black and white print
Inner frames with captions
Format : 50×60 cm
Contact
Patricia MORVAN
Responsable de projets culturels
et des expositions
morvan@abvent.fr
+33 1 53 01 85 89
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Hôtel Paul Delaroche
58 rue Saint Lazare, 75009 Paris
+33 1 53 01 85 85
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