THE ILLUSTRIOUS UNKNOWS
L’une des plus grandes courtières de pierres de Mogok.
Une des peu nombreuses femmes a avoir intégré cette caste d’hommes considérés comme ni vivant, ni mort mais simplement en mer.
Le symbole de milliers de migrants qui font « Boza », c'est-à-dire rejoindre l'Europe.
My first collaboration took place in December 2020 with my brother Arnaud Paquier (see his website)
The aim was to trace the destiny of three female characters, inspired by books, through three illustrations drawn by Arnaud.
Enter the world of Daw Lha and her Mongok rubies, Catherine and her hectic life at sea, and Bintou and the harshness of her journey.
Daw Hla – Based on the book la valée des rubis from Joseph Kessel
In the heart of the Burmese forest (the actual Myanmar) in a valley of the Mogok region, thousands of people work tirelessly to extract the vast majority of the world's rubies .
The extraction methods, which have not changed for thousands of years, simply consist of washing the earth containing the raw stones called Bayon.
Women, according to an old tradition, are not allowed to enter the mines because of beliefs that they bring bad luck.. However, they are tolerated at the bottom of the mines and look for any stones that the miners may have dropped in the mud streams that are discharged from the mines.
However, a woman can own a mine or trade in stone, and through this process many women have become powerful and respected over the ages. The illustration shows Daw Hla, whose determination and skills have made her one of the largest stone brokers in Mogok.
Daw Hla is the symbol of all these women mocked by sexist and misogynistic beliefs.
Daw Lha is the symbol of those women who broke their condition to rise where men did not think they were capable..
Catherine – Based on the book le grand marin from Catherine Poulain
Being fishermanis to live in a world where there is a constant smell of fish, damp and musty. A world where one sleeps little, but works a lot, at the mercy of the whims of the open sea. This very special world was mainly the theatre of men, but some women tried, and succeeded, to penetrate it. Catherine Poulain's novel "Le grand marin" explains her own story and in particular his integration into this caste of men considered as neither alive nor dead but simply at sea. "le grand marin" also tells the story of how sailors become priests of death once they are on board their factory ships.
These ships, very well described in the book "North Atlantic" by Redmond O'Hanlon, are real factories of destruction, scraping all life from the seabed and breaking the fragile balance of its ecosystem…
Bintou - Based on the book Boza of Ulrich Cabrel & Étienne de Longueville
BintouIt is the daughter of Pharaoh, it is the symbol of thousands of migrants who make " Boza " which means joining Europe.
It is the power of a woman and the harshness of a story. But Bintou is also the symbol of the adults deprived of youthwho have broken through the infamous barriers erected by a shapeless and impalpable bureaucracy.
Another odyssey-like epic: the book "Boza" by Ulrich Cabrel and Etienne Longueville
In July 2016, Ulrich Cabrel left his slum in Cameroon to make "Boza".
A 9000km journey that led him to Brittany where he found refuge with Etienne Longueville, a volunteer in an association that welcomes young refugees.
A book that describes Ulrich's first times along his journey. His first bus, his first border, his first smuggler and so much more.