Tender wake (Tanzania, Zanzibar)

On the shores of Zanzibar, the veils worn by young girls form a shifting palette with deep roots. Their colors are neither trivial nor merely decorative: they extend the history of a crossroads archipelago, stirred by trade between Africa, Asia, and the Arabian Peninsula.

In the 19th century, head veils, often called kofia or khanga depending on their cut, were imported from India and Oman. Their color sometimes indicated status, an occasion, or a place of origin. Today, with the globalization of textile markets, fluorescent polyester veils from China or Dubai coexist with traditional cotton fabrics. But the gesture remains: wrap, tie, adapt. Even at the beach.

This painting of children walking in the water, sails in the wind, is also a metaphor: identity is woven throughout the story, but is played out here, in the simple act of walking together in a sea that connects.