Umu chose the word “أصدقاء” (pronounced “Asdiqah” and meaning “Friends” in Arabic). Painted in the slum of Zaatar in Nouakchott, Mauritania.
Author: Seb Toussaint
Umu – أصدقاء
Umu chose the word “أصدقاء” (“Friends” in Arabic). Umu’s house gives onto a small square lined with wooden barracks in which other families lives. She loves having so many friends living close to her and using the square as their playground.
As often, her word resonates with me since I’m doing this project with my 2 helpers Dudu and Abdul Malek who I’ve been friends with for over 17 years.
Zaatar – Nouakchott
Zaatar is the neighbourhood we’ve chosen to work in for this new episode of Share The Word Project.
It’s a sandy stretch of land in the East of Noukchott with a few salty marshes. Very few trees grow here because of the salt in the ground. Families have built houses with wood from pallets and iron sheets that come from used barrels. The driest marchlands are used as open spaces where kids play and goats roam.
Majad wanted me to take a picture of him wearing his swimming cap which he’s very proud of.
Video : Eshatou – ناقة
Eshatou chose the word “ناقة” (“female camel” in arabic). Painted in the slum of Zaatar, Nouakchott, Mauritania.
Eshatou – نافة
Eshatou (25 years old) chose the word “نافة“ (pronounced “naqah” and meaning a female camel). Eshatou loves camel milk and drinks it every morning and evening. She also enjoys riding camels when she has the opportunity. Camels are a big part of the culture in the Sahara and Sahel regions, and particularly in Mauritania which is home to more the 1 million camels!
Video : Ahmed – ماما
Ahmed chose the word « ماما» (Mama in Arabic) for his mother. Painted in the slum of Zaatar, Nouakchott, Mauritania on a new episode of Share The Word Project.
Ahmed – ماما
Ahmed (11 years old) chose the word “ماما” (Mama) for his mother. She’s bringing up 10 children while making a modest income selling vegetables in front of her house. She’s the type of strong woman who’s always smiling and who makes a tough life look fairly easy.
Nouakchott
I’ve just started painting in a slum of Nouakchott, Mauritania for a new episode of Share The Word Project! 9 years ago I started this art project where I paint words that people choose on their houses. I do this specifically in slums and refugee camps. The idea is to paint the words – and tell the stories behind the words – of people who are largely ignored. I aim to use art to bring a bit of focus on marginalised communities. It’s an ongoing project that has taken me to so many countries through the years. Each time I stay one month in each slum, and this time I’m in Nouakchott.
I self-fund the project and I organise it myself. There are no sponsors, no NGOs behind me and I have no contacts in the slums I end up working in. I just meet the people and start painting !
”Normandy”
Many years ago my friend Gillou taught me how to paint walls using a spray can in my hometown of Caen, Normandy. A few years later I decided to make that my job and he’s been very supportive ever since, encouraging me in my art, telling people about me and even finding me work!
Today I delivered a 90x90cm canvas he commissioned. He just gave me the size of the canvas and told me to have fun with it. I chose the word “Normandy”, for a land that we both have in our hearts. I wanted the painting to reference Normandy but without making it too cliché and obvious. I didn’t want to paint the Mt Saint Michel, a bottle of Calvados and apples. We’ve seen that before and I’d rather represent Normandy in my own way.
The patterns painted are separated by both straight lines and curved or irregular lines. These irregular lines draw the outlines of Normandy. In the top left of the painting one will recognise the outline of the Cotentin, Normandy’s West coast. The bottom right shows the border with the Paris Region, etc… Caen would be situated in the navy and white triangles in the centre. I guess it’s hard to see for a non-Norman but this was made for a Norman, plus I like it when things aren’t too obvious. I also painted two apple tree flowers at the top and at the bottom.
A big dilemma was whether to include insular Normandy (the islands of Jersey, Guernesey…). I decided not to include them because I wanted the outlines of Normandy to all be drawn at the same scale so as not too be too confusing. The islands would have been very small, especially in an overall design where the patterns are big. I will find a way to include them in my work in the future.
I’m very glad that my mentor has this piece!
”Peace” – Prints
Limited edition of 30 prints. 40×50 cm
Pigmentary print on 220 gsm mat paper (acid free).
Numbered and signed.
Order here: https://sebtoussaint.bigcartel.com/
“Peace” is the word I have painted the most since the beginning of “Share The Word Project” – my ongoing art project in which I ask inhabitants of slums and refugee camps to give me words to paint on their houses.
“Peace” – in different languages – was given to me 16 times in 9 years, mostly by victims of conflicts in the DR Congo, Palestine, Iraq and Colombia. I’ve realised that people who have survived wars never take for granted the times of peace or relative peace that follows.
Seb Toussaint 