Akodessawa | Francesco Merlini

FRANCESCO MERLINI

Bertin plays with a python. Snakes are used generally to protect newborns. Teeth of vipers, once pulverized, are injected in the body in order to get protection from snake bites.

A lizard in the hands of one of the market sellers. Dried lizards are used in order to produce love charms.

Ambroise Zokdon rests after playing.

The skull of a big warthog together with other skulls and dried birds and small mammals on a sand of the market.

The Iron Tron (Iron Altar) that stands at the center of the market. Every year in Decemeber many animals are killed during a ceremony aimed at bringing prosperity to the professionals that works with metal. During the ceremony the blood of the sacrificed animals is spilled on the altar, adding new layers to the layers of blood added in the previous years. Because of oxidation, the color of blood changes from red to black. The change of shape due to the stratification of substances is a recurring theme in the voodoo cult.

Cheetah skins left to dry in a corner of the market. Skins of crocodiles, snakes, lions, cheetas and other animals are macerated in liquor in order to get a potion to drink to gain protections against black magic.

Gibodja Kake rests and protects himself from the scorching sun while waiting for customers in front of his stand.

Some of the younger sellers talk at the market entrance.

Dried owls. Cats and owls, once pulverized and mixed with blood, are used to make vaccinations against witchcraft.

The entrance of the market.

Bertin with a alive hawk in a market shack. Powder from dried birds used in order to cure stomach diseases.

A composition of buffallo and other big mammals' horns on a market stall. Horns are used during celebrations in order to produce sounds, blowing into them.

The skulls of some baboons and other species of monkey.

A painted red pigeon. Powder from dried birds is used in order to create fetishes and to cure stomach diseases while alive birds are used during sacrifices and rituals.

Akountou Avougio, a kid with abdominal hernia that spends most of his time at the market.

A wooden love fetish in the hands of Marie Kake who has a stand at the market with her sister Sylvinon and other relatives.

Traditional drawings on one of the market walls.

Marie Kake who has a stand at the market with her sister Sylvinon and other relatives.

The skull of a monkey in the hands of a kid.

Old traditional wooden sculptures in a corner of the market.

Thiery Alimatin plays with a young python. Snakes are used generally to protect newborns. Teeth of vipers, once pulverized, are injected in the body in order to get protection from snake bites.

Antelope skins left to dry on a three inside the market. Skins of various animals are macerated in liquor in order to get a potion to drink to gain protections against black magic.

A kid plays with a scorpion.

Dried lizards, birds, rodents and skulls of small mammals on a stand of the market.

A young man with the skin of a large snake. Skins of crocodiles, snakes, lions, leopards and other animals are macerated in liquor in order to get a potion to drink to gain protections against black magic.

James Dako sleeps on a bench and protects himself from the scorching sun while waiting for customers.

The leg of a giant tortoise. Tortoise shells and legs are ground into powder and used to make medications for asthma.

Thiery Alimatin rests and protects himself from the scorching sun while waiting for customers in front of his stand.

A voodoo altar ,"tron", with human features in the location of the old slave market.
In this town Gustav Nachtigal signed a treaty with the town's chief, Mlapa III, in 1884, from which Germany claimed overlordship over what became Togo. Togoville hosts many shrines and places for voodoo and ancestor worship.

Alive chamaleons inside a plastic tank. Dried chameleons and starfishes together with the heads of parrots are ground into powder and mixed with honey in order to get a medication that, if taken everyday, strengthens intelligence and memory.

© 2020 by Francesco Merlini