Sand Lovers

Oil on plywood
121 cm x 39 cm

"Young men and young ladies become acquainted with each other before marriage. If their relationship has obviously gone too far, the man must pay a fine… Before she gives birth for the first time, the young bride must reveal the names of the men she has had relations with before her marriage […] Each friend named by the young woman must, in compensation, present one head of cattle to the husband. If she has given herself to more than ten men, the young seductress names no one, but rather throws a handful of sand in the air, as a sign that "my lovers have been as numerous as the grains of sand."

Excerpt from the book "Bernatzik, Africa", Editions 5 Continents