Les Blancs

Les Blancs

National Theatre – 2016

The brief: written by a civil-rights activist, ‘Les Blancs’ (the Whites) tells the story of an African man who returns from Europe to find that racial tensions and anti-colonialist feelings have brought his country to the brink of civil war. A mysterious and silent character, ‘The Woman’, haunts the hero and urges him to join the fight.

I was inspired by African tribal paintings and images of a young man marching in Selma with the word ‘Vote’ written across his forehead, to create this striking portrait of ‘the Woman’ emerging from the shadows to confront the audience.

Concept and art direction by Émilie Chen
Photography (Anna-Maria Nabirye) by Franklyn Rodgers