On the shores of Gorée and Saint-Louis, at the crossroads of Atlantic winds and intertwined destinies, emerged a singular society: that of the Signares. These mixed-race women, born of unions between European settlers and African women, rose from the seventeenth century onward as figures of power, refinement, and ambiguity within the tumult of colonial history. Draped in rich fabrics, adorned with gold and lace, the Signares were the queens of a world between two shores. They mastered the codes of commerce and seduction, hosting salons, negotiating cargos of ivory, gum arabic — and at times, human beings. In a male-dominated world, they transformed their marginal position into a space of influence, combining elegance, intelligence, and strategy.

Yet behind the painted portraits and embellished tales lies a shadow — that of a power built on ambivalence. The Signares were both victims and agents of a system where métissage served as a bridge between domination and resistance. They embody the complexity of the relationship between Africa and Europe — neither entirely submissive nor completely free, yet always aware of their place in the great staging of the colonial world.

This photographic series, created in collaboration with Senegalese designer Mame Faguèye Ba, reinterprets the figure of the Signare through the lens of memory and transmission.
The portraits were taken on the island of Gorée and in Saint-Louis, Senegal, within the ruins of former colonial palaces, where history still reverberates. Here, bodies, fabrics, and light converse — reviving these women between grace and resistance, in the full complexity of their legacy.