d'encens, de clou de girofle, de mouton, de thé brûlé, et de jasmin de nuit,

In Saint-Louis in 1838, Gum Arabic moves from acacia forests, through the escales of Podor and Dagana, and down the Senegal River, toward a merchant house on the island, where it becomes incense, remedy, dream.

As the extension of French colonial rule looms over the economy of the gum trade —— sustained by métis trading families, African traders, French merchant houses and river intermediaries —— the daughter of a Bordeaux merchant and a métisse Signare, Mariama, is kept from sleep. 








* Produced for the 18th Biennale of Lyon, To pass from one dream to another.