l'Arène de Dakar


  • Photographer
    Luca Meola
  • Prize
    3rd Place / Event/Traditions and Cultures
  • Date of Photograph
    2013

Technique, strength and good GrisGris. These are the three keywords to win in the Dakar Arena. The wrestlers of lamb, a typical Senegales wresling, train for months and practice this sport at the beach, in the fighting schools, in boxing gyms, everywhere. During the match day, a marabout is the man who accompanies the wrestlers and takes care of the rituals; the fighters perform a ritual dance in front of the griot who plays the drums, they sprinkle their body with milk and exhibit the GrisGris which are the good luck talismans. In this sport people fight with bare hands, without using any protection and standing in a large circle of sand. Dazing and hitting the adversaries with punches is allowed, so the matches end when one of the two contenders is put on the ground. Originally the lamb was an activity born within the Serer tribe, to gain strength, virility and wealth. In the last decade, this pastime has evolved into not only a national sport, but also an outsized spectacle, followed by the entire country and widely broadcasted. The great champions become televisive heroes, because they have won a huge amount of money and changed their humble living standard.

You can create multiple entries, and pay for them at the same time.
Just go to your History, and select multiple entries that you would like to pay for.