Women of Sänbäté" exhibition

Witnesses to a bygone era, these portraits illustrate the social complexity of Ethiopia. Indeed, this plurality of dress codes is expressed in such a restricted unit of place as the Sänbäté market. A Sunday gathering point (Sänbäté meaning "day of rest") in the north of the Choa province, the surrounding peoples come together here from the lowlands and the highlands; Christians and Muslims, pastoralists and sedentary people.

All these shots were taken in a single location, the Sänbäté market. Situated in the north of the Choa province, it is also close to the famous Bati market, one of the largest in Ethiopia. This gigantic commercial crossroads brings together people in transit from all over the country. Claude Légeret has immortalized on film the great diversity of dress codes and ornaments worn by Ethiopian women in this privileged place.

Although this selection reflects only a tiny fraction of Claude Légeret's work, it remains entirely representative of the author's approach and photographic style. From 1980 to 1987, Claude Légeret took up photography while teaching at the Franco-Ethiopian Lycée Guébré-Mariam in Addis Ababa. During his stay, he criss-crossed the country, capturing moments in the daily lives of the people he met. In all, 16,000 color slides bear witness to the many excursions he made into the heart of Ethiopia. Only around thirty of these images are shown here. This exhibition is the fruit of a collaboration between BULAC and Mme Delombera Negga, from the Ethiopian Studies section of Inalco's Africa department.