EXHIBITION – “THE FORGOTTEN SAHEL” extended until June 28.

For over ten years, the Sahel region—a vast semi-arid zone stretching from Senegal in the west to Sudan in the east—has often been associated with the image of a permanent crisis. The region faces numerous challenges: more than 5 million people are displaced and nearly 31 million are currently in need of humanitarian aid. It is also one of the regions of the world most exposed to the effects of climate change, with a temperature increase approximately 1.5 times higher than the global average. But the Sahel is not limited to crisis. This region is home to a great diversity of peoples, languages, and histories. For centuries, Sahelian societies have adapted to a demanding environment and to profound political, social, and climatic transformations.

From March 26 until June 28, Géopolis presents a new exhibition cycle dedicated to the Sahel. During this exhibition you will discover the works of Adrienne Surprenant, Pascal Maitre, Giovani Frescura, Roberto Marcon, Luigi Carrieri and photographers from AFP in the region.

You will find the works of:

▶︎ Adrienne Surprenant who documents the upheavals around Lake Chad, on which more than 20 million people depend. In her project “We Scream Like the Flayed,” she shows how the shrinking of the lake—which has lost nearly 90% of its volume since the 1960s—and climate disruptions are transforming ways of life and contributing to population displacement and insecurity in the region.

▶︎ Pascal Maitre, who has been working on Africa for over thirty years, brings a long-term perspective on the transformations of the Sahel. His series “Sahel in Danger – A Time Bomb” documents the intertwining crises affecting the region: advancing desert, migration, state fragility, and the rise of armed groups.

▶︎ Giovanni Frescura, Roberto Marcon and Luigi Carrieri highlight an essential but often overlooked way of life: transhumance. Practiced for centuries in the Lake Chad region, it consists of the seasonal movement of herds along pastoral corridors in order to adapt to climate variations and the availability of pastures.

▶︎ Finally, through a partnership with AFP, this second section immerses us in current events in 4 Sahelian countries where very few journalists are present given the security climate on the ground and the difficulties in practicing the profession. Through the eyes of its photographers, these images immerse us in the current events and recent history of Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Sudan.

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📸 ©Pascal Maitre – Niger, 2007 – Camions de migrants dans le désert du Ténéré. Des milliers de voyageurs clandestins, partis en majorité du Nigeria, du Ghana et du Mali, traversent ce redoutable désert pour aller chercher du travail en Libye et dans les pays de l’Union européenne.

🔗 Cette exposition est proposée en partenariat avec la GIZ (agence de coopération internationale allemande) et l’AFP