The fisherman and the weaver

Finding pockets of unbuilt and lush vegetated land in a buzzling city like Dakar is not for the faint-hearted. Luckily there’s nothing Moussa can’t fix! While Karoline’s plane was landing and Jenny was pumping iron at the gym right next to a small harbour, Riitta and Moussa ventured down to these volcanic shores just out of curiosity. It was the usual Senegalese welcome of big smiles, and the tidal pool between the two pirogue-filled beaches just behind the fishermen’s cool boxes looked promising as a shoot location. When the complete Eyes as Big as Plates team returned to Térou baye sogui to look for collaborators and materials, we happened upon Baye who declared that if we wanted to work with a ‘Grand Pecheur’, this was our chance. He immediately called his father-in-law Boubou and five seconds later we were all on our way to his house to greet the great fisherman.

Moussa also took us to the markets on the first day in Dakar and at Marché Kermel we met the handiwork of Thiam. We were struck by his basket weaving and the bundles of palm leaves in his booth, but as the artisan himself was not present we returned the next day to meet the artist behind the creations.