Clothes of the Ancestors

1. Photograph: Joana Choumali

2. Joana Choumali’s portraits show modern African women
swapping jeans for kente cloth – and diving into the
dazzling cultural heritage of their families.

3. Ebrié Akan-‘Cleopâtre is a
medical student at the
University of Abidjan – she
wants to become a
paediatrician. She is from
the tribe of Abidjan, Ebrié.
Cleopâtre arrived at the
studio wearing jeans; her
natural style is very modern’

4. Malagasi‘-Even if we don’t speak
the language or don’t go to the
village every day, we are still
African,’ Choumali has said. ‘I think
it’s time to redefine what being
African is’

5. Fon
Each photo shows a different style
of tribal dress – like this from the
Fon people of west Africa

6. Photograph: Joana Choumali

7. Yoruba-In Resilients, Ivorian
photographer Joana Choumali shows
modern African women dressed in the
traditional clothes of their ancestors –
and celebrates rich and beautiful
cultures in danger of being forgotten

8. Photograph: Joana Choumali

9. Arabic SudaneseChoumali found her subjects
on the streets of Abidjan: women dressed in
contemporary clothes like jeans and heels.
They were instructed to wear something
worn by their grandmother or another older
female relative

10. Ebrié Akan
Another
series meanwhile goes
behind the scenes of an
Ivorian mannequin
manufacturer, to
highlight the construction
of African beauty ideals

11. ‘Sandrine is an Agni from the Akan
group. She lives in France and
owns a cosmetic company focused
on natural beauty products. She
came to the studio with her
mother with whom she has very
tight bond, and wore her
grandmother’s clothes, from the
royal family of Abengourou. Her
mother explained that the
grandmother kept all
the kente clothes and jewellery in
big trunks for her daughter and
granddaughter – Sandrine is also
wearing her grandma’s wig’

12. Photograph: Joana Choumali

13. Attié Akan-‘Sandrine is half Ivorian and
half Senegalese. She lives in Abidjan.
She was unemployed and recently
divorced when she agreed to pose for
the project. The shoot was very
intimate. After posing, Sandrine
confessed she felt stronger, ready to
start over her personal and
professional life. Today, she works as a
commercial agent in a company and
recently got remarried’

14. Arabic Sudanese‘Fatma is half Ivorian, half
Sudanese,’ says Choumali. ‘Posing in her
mother’s clothes allowed her to connect with her
story. Fatma works in Abidjan as a
communication and events coordinator - she
travels the world and is very independent. The
photoshoot helped her discover the more
feminine, stronger side of her personality’

15. Photograph: Joana Choumali

16. Photograph: Joana Choumali

17. BambaraChoumali’s other
projects also delve into African
heritage, such as Haabre, The
Last Generation, which
documents the facial scarring
rituals of Burkina Faso

18. Peulh Guinea-Choumali,
living in modern and
cosmopolitan Abidjan, felt
disconnected from her
grandmother who was
based in rural Ivory Coast.
After she died, Choumali
worried she was losing
touch with her roots

19. Photograph: Joana Choumali

20. Apollo Akan‘Danielle spent her childhood
living in Spain, while her father worked at the
Ivorian embassy in Madrid. Now she teaches
Spanish in Abidjan. Danielle is wearing her
grandmother’s outfit. The style and design is
typically 1950s. During the shoot Danielle was
very emotional as her mother had recently
passed away, and she realised how similar
they looked. The photo session was like
therapy’

21. Tagbanan Malinke
‘Lydie is a lawyer, and has lived in
London most of her life. I met her on
the internet as she was looking for a
photographer for her wedding in
Abidjan. Her outfit is from the
Tagbanan tribe, who are originally
from north Ivory Coast. Lydie was
proudto see herself in the traditional
outfit – she said that she felt like she
was reconnecting with the cultural
part of herself’

22. ‘Soukeyna studies marketing in Bordeaux.
She had to ask the permission from the
King of Grand-Bassam to borrow these
clothes and jewellery. The outfit was worn
by the Queen, her great grandmother, in
the 1930s. She came to the studio with
her mother, who was in tears at the
resemblance between Soukeyna and her
great grandmother. They brought an old
portrait with them to the studio of her at
17’

23. Photograph: Joana Choumali

24. Photograph: Joana Choumali

26. Photograph: Joana Choumali

27. Photograph: Joana Choumali

28. Photograph: Joana Choumali

29. Photograph: Joana Choumali

30. Peulh SenegaleseShe celebrates natural,
unstyled African hair in her portrait
series Nappy!, while Emotions à
Nufeatures black nude bodies presented
in a worshipful, almost sculptural way

31. Joana Choumali : born in 1974 and based
in Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire). She studied
Graphic Arts in Casablanca (Morocco)
and worked as an Art Director for
McCann-Erickson, Abidjan before
embarking on her photography career.

32. Photograph: Joana Choumali
END05-MAYO-2016