CULTURAL LEADER, ECOFEMINIST AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTRESS - SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATOR AND ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTER
ROSINE NSIMIRE &
ALESSANDRO MUSETTA
DRC
Agathe, the matriarch above the water
A mixed-media digital publication documenting the experiences of artisanal fisherwomen from Lake Kivu. In Rosine & Alessandro’s own words “With our project we listen to and artfully give back [Agathe’s] memory and knowledge, recognising the role of all the fisherwomen and matriarchs…as custodians of the waters and lands…We expect this organised collection of materials to propagate the idea that socio-ecological change must be built through the rehabilitation of traditional ecological knowledge foundations.”
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At the Bagira landing site on the outskirts of the city of Bukavu 20 fisherwomen, including Agathe, were involved in the project's first listening and learning sessions during which a social cartography activity was carried out.
"All the social processes that lead to the co-design and co-development of maps have been the subject of study and work for ten years...in this case, the map was created through the combination of layers of different open data sources and landing sites identified through fieldwork. The map is rendered through a visualisation engine called Leaflet. The style applied to each element of the map is our own, original." - Rosine & Alessandro.
"Reflected in these stories is their ancestral knowledge and bits of Indigenous science that explain their relationship with water and land. Stories of revolutionary women, earth defenders, matriarchs fighting the gender-based stigma that they cannot fish in a sector that almost entirely employs men. Which also becomes an international call for solidarity." - Rosine & Alessandro .
The project included an art session for local children currently excluded from formal education. By introducing them to creative techniques, the initiative aimed to provide these youth with the tools to eventually author and share their own narratives through art.
