THE DIGNITY OF THE WIND

Western Sahara

2018

Western Sahara is still today the last colony in Africa. The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (RASD) flag, their music and the traditional system of assigning Saharawi surnames are all criminalised in the occupied territories by the colonial power, Morocco. By doing this, Morocco not only wants to appropriate the Saharawi territories, but also to destroy the Saharawi people and their entire culture.

In an attempt to bring a new dimension to the Sahrawi struggle and based on the mightiness of the desert and wind, I worked together with children, men and women to craft kites. We used the materials, and the form used to build Jaimas - the traditional nomadic tents of the Saharawis - to create them. These kites were then flown in front of the MINURSO (the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara), in Sahrawi schools, and at other events. By lifting these Jaima kites into the air, we aimed to raise the spirit of the Saharawis' struggle to new heights.

The Dignity of the Wind was part of the 2018 ARTIFARITI Human Rights and Art Festival.

With images by Elena Rusca