Exposure « In Benin, the energy of voodoo »
© Sébastien Roux / All rights included
Again, it all started with an opportunity. Immersing myself for three weeks in Benin, a West African country located between Togo and Nigeria. I discovered voodoo, far from the usual clichés. One year later, my work are exhibited at the François Mitterrand media library in Digne les Bains until January 25th.
Benin, the cradle of voodoo. Appeared in the kingdom of Dahomey (now Togo and Benin) in the 17th century, voodoo is a complex and mysterious animist belief where the visible (the world of humans) mingles with the invisible (the world of spirits and deities). Historically, voodoo spread during the slave trade in Brazil, Haiti, the West Indies and as far away as Louisiana. Nowadays, it is estimated that 200 million people practice voodoo worldwide.
January 10 (2019), national day of worship in Benin. I go to Grand-Popo, on the border with Togo, to attend voodoo ceremonies on the beach between the Mono River and the Gulf of Guinea. An intense day where I capture this popular fervour by photographing followers covered with yellow paste in a state of trance. I learn about the existence of the zangbeto, this "guardian of the night" with a straw structure that never stops spinning.
January 12 (2019), heading for Porto-Novo. Two days later, I attend a parade celebrating the richness of these African traditions in the country's capital. I am captivated by the children's eyes and by the traditional outfits with their many symbols. In this atmosphere, songs and music are omnipresent. Present in the procession, the engungun symbolizes the spirit of a dead man who has returned to the world of the living.
