The mask is an important element of the art onMayotte.
It gives a concrete form to an abstract reality, a god or a feeling.
It can even foster the oral tradition.
The works I've created have a title, in fact, it's Zah Karlo, which means the trace, the imprint.
And we have many tales, many legends that have survived.
In fact, which disappear with the generations.
I try to pass on the little that I know, particularly legends, by bringing them to life.
Traditions exist because they are passed down and like traditions, the mask reveals the soul of a people and its deep aspirations.
The Muslim religion has existed on Mayotte for over 10 centuries and upholds ancestral values.
It's a relaxed and smiling Islam that guarantees the passing down of tradition in the framework of the Koranic school.
Here, teaching also includes the opening up of the mind.
A school where diversity is an ongoing reference.
There are the children were reading the names of animals in Arabic and in French.
We're here to improve the children's standards on both sides, Arabic and French, of course.
They're also learning English, all three languages at the same time.
And openness to the world is a permanent teaching philosophy.
We do a lot of things in this school for the children so that they can learn.
First of all, their religion, but also so that they can keep in mind a vision, so they can see a bit further than today's world.
The Keddie has become a social mediator.
He can intervene in disputes connected with polygamy, which is forbidden nowadays.
To marry several wives, a man had to respect very strict conditions.
In the days when it was frequently practiced afather could have one, two, three or four wives.
That's what it says in the Muslim religion.
But the man has to be fair with these 4 women.
He has to share all his worldly goods very evenly.
The traditional wedding ceremony, the big wedding, takes place to the rhythm of the bewe.
These are pieces of bamboo.
The pipeas are waved to cool down the husband to be and his witnesses.
All three of them carry on unlit cigarette.
It's a way of stating their independence.
The jewels given to the bride are carried by the procession.
Meanwhile, the bride who hasn't left her house for a week is being prepared.
You see, what I'm doing here is the bride's makeup.
Do mask. I'm using a beauty mask.
The beauty mask used to be reserved only for married women, but the tradition has become more general.
There you go.
Meanwhile, the procession is approaching the bride's house.
Through the whole of the previous week.
She has received visitor after visitor.
The meeting between the two young people follows a very precise ritual.
We're going to let the husband through so that he can discover his wife.
You have to remember that here before he can discover the woman, the bride, he has to pay.
The wedding involves considerable expense, and many Mahorais women have to help each other out to cope with the cost.
The young man goes to the nuptial bed.
Before marriages were arranged between the two families, today, feelings are more important than financial considerations.
Then it's time for celebration, to the rhythm of the drums and dancing.
While polygamy, now forbidden, is still accepted by the older generations, the young seem to have turned the page.
We the younger generation, we said stop to polygamy because we're fed up with it.
But there are still people who do it, as we've chosen to be French, to be a department.
Well, there are both drawbacks and advantages.
For me, if polygamy doesn't exist anymore, I think it's an enormous advantage.