Press release
Banjul, January & February 2025 – Alliance Française de Banjul hosts a unique artistic project blending gastronomy, photography, and social engagement. French artist Enora Lalet, collaborating with Gambian photographer Lena Nian, embarks on a month-long residency to create five exceptional portraits of Gambian women.
After 14 years of international artistic explorations, Enora Lalet continues her innovative “Cooked Portraits” approach. This method transforms local food and materials into artistic mediums, creating ephemeral works where body and food engage in an intimate dialogue.
The project focuses on the Kenyeleng community, a group of women united by their experience with infertility. This artistic choice is profoundly humanistic, transcending social boundaries and celebrating female resilience.
Each portrait will incorporate symbolic elements of Gambian culture such as peanut shells echoing the agricultural economy, hibiscus flowers (Wonjo) with medicinal properties, traditional wax fabrics, and local plants. These materials will tell a rich, complex story, capturing the essence of Gambian identity.
Enora Lalet’s creative process begins with meticulous sketches, followed by photographs taken in natural Gambian environments, notably among majestic baobab trees. Each triptych becomes a powerful visual narrative, documenting both local culture and female experience.
This project is funded by the French Embassy in Senegal and The Gambia and implemented by the Alliance Française as part of the “We together for women’s empowerment” project: promoting women’s expression through the arts, culture, debate and entrepreneurship.
Exhibition Opening: February 5, 2025, at the Alliance Française de Banjul
An event promising to reveal Gambian cultural richness through a unique and committed artistic perspective.