Ivorian Photographer Joana Choumali Photo Series on Scarification (Tribal Marks) in West Africa – Hââbré

In a photo series called ‘Hââbré, the last generation’, Ivorian Photographer Joana Choumali documents the last generation of African citizens living in a big city like Abidjan with disappearing practice of scarification on their faces.
The word “Hââbré” means both writing and scarification in the Kô language of Burkina Faso.
In Joana Choumali own words, this practice of scarification is disappearing due to the pressure of religious and state authorities, urban practices and the introduction of clothing in tribes.
In many villages, only the older people wear scarifications. This series of portraits lead us to question the link between past and present, and self-image depending on a given environment.
Opinions, most times conflicting, of our witnesses illustrate the complexity of African identity today in a contemporary Africa, torn between its past and its future.
During my [Joana Choumali] research, all I found were pictures from the beginning of the century, taken by ethnologists, and only a few contemporary images. I also had trouble finding people to photograph because of their rarity.
This “last generation” of people bearing the imprint of the past on their faces, went from being the norm and having a high social value to being somewhat “excluded”. These last scarified are the last witnesses of an Africa of a bygone era.”





Scarification is the practice of performing a superficial incision in the human skin. Social scarification has an ancient origin.
It is common practice in Africa (especially in West Africa), where it replaced tattoos that show poorly on dark skin. Social scarification is of particular significance, as a ritual of passage to adulthood, or belonging to a small group. It is done with cutting tools such as sharp pieces of stone, glass, knives.
Scarification is a permanent body decoration. The skin is perforated and incised. The wound forming a pattern while healing.
In traditional societies, these indelible marks have multiple functions which include, determine the belonging to a supernatural element or social status, Meet local aesthetic criteria, identify members of the same ethnic group, we could add the terms “social identity card” to describe this practice.”




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