The Naming Day
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The Naming Day

Video15 min BanjulWolof

Seven days after birth, a family gives a child its name and its history.

The ceremony begins before six in the morning. It is crowded, it is quick, and the name is withheld until the final moment.

The choice is collective: aunts, elders and sometimes the wider community are consulted, and the name usually records a person, a circumstance or a hope.

The film keeps the negotiation as well as the ritual — the gentle argument, and the grandmother having the last word.

Photographs

From this recording

The Naming Day — photograph 1
The Naming Day — photograph 2
The Naming Day — photograph 3

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