NDEUPE (Senegal, 2009)

In the twenty years that African boat refugees have been trying to reach Europe, 13,000 drowned, and at least another 5000 went missing. Among them were many fishermen from Senegal. Their livelihood under pressure from competition from large Western fishing boats, they tried to make the passage to Europe. The drowned fishermen continue to be present in the void that they leave behind – in their empty rooms, in the hearts of their grieving families. As a part of her long-term project IMMIGRATION CLANDESTINE Judith Quax photographed the ndeupe, an animistic ritual of the Lebou tribe in Senegal. In it women dance around the forsaken wife to the pounding beat of drums in order to make contact with the spirit world. The venerable spirits are seen as bringers of luck and guardians against misfortune. For those left behind in the fishing villages near Dakar this is the only form of therapy that is available.