Behind the Fence 2016-19

When the Iatmul speak of Kandinge in their language Ndu - which means human - they basically mean the village downriver. It is the last village in the region where the inhabitants, or more precisely, the men stick to their old traditional initiation-rituals. For the ceremony, older men and some novices back out for several weeks to the ‘men‘s house’, a building made of wood and other materials from the rainforest and decorated with elaborate carvings. Men without crocodile scars, women and children are not allowed to step behind the fence where the initiation takes place. When the rainy season starts in December and the Sepik overflows its banks, part of the village is flooded. The flood also heralds the arrival of the primordial crocodile.

Instalations images: ShowOff, Krakow Photomonth (PL) 2019 / VFG NWFP, Galerie L’elac (CH) 2019

Exhibition(selection)

Krakow Photomonth (PL)

Photobastei 2.0 (CH)

Galerie L’elac (CH)

FOAP (CHN)

Publication (selection)

GEO (DE/CH/AUT)

GEO (FR)

Vanity Fair (IT)

Das Magazin (CH)

KOLT (CH)