Ouaga Émoi

Ouaga Émoi - slipcase edition

A witness to a city in its time, this book is a platform of perspectives and words for expressing Ouaga.
After Dakar Émoi, it is the turn of an inland city to tell its story, to let itself be told. Ouagadougou—Ouaga to those who know her well—capital of a country nestled in the African loop, tenderly embraced by six neighbors. Beneath her modest airs, Ouaga is a seductress. She knows how to capture the hearts of those who think they will merely visit, or live there for a short while and leave unscathed. After all, they say to themselves upon arriving, what can a city as flat as a pancake and without water offer? Ouaga has neither sea nor river, it is true. She lacks relief. But her heart, as vast as the Himalayas, overflows with love for those she gives birth to and for all the others she adopts without discrimination!

Among the contributors to Ouaga Émoi, His Majesty the Moro Naaba, Emperor of the Mossi, recalls in a poem the values of respect, peace, and tolerance at the origin of the founding of this millennial city. Following him, artists—through their pens and their cameras—have agreed to sing and show Ouaga as she is, as they see her, dream her, feel her, and live her.
In Ouaga Émoi, the words of some and the photographs of others—no less remarkable—reveal a city where tradition and modernity meet and challenge one another; a humble yet insolent city, a courageous and anxious city, harsh and yet so tender with her children, whose boldness and thirst for freedom seem inexhaustible.

The Émoi Collection aims to cast a sensitive gaze on our African capitals through their photographers and those who love them.

Original idea: Ghaël Samb Sall
Edited under the direction of Ghaël Samb Sall
Artistic direction of the Émoi collection: _nkx
Artistic direction: Anthony Labouriaux
Design and layout: Anthony Labouriaux
Literary direction: Monique Ilboudo
Editorial coordination: Vydia Tamby Monteiro
Editorial assistant: Sloane Lecomte
Ouaga editorial assistant: Nour Derme
All rights reserved for all countries
Printed in Abidjan by Graphicolor
2019