@Togoyeye. Dokué Lonlon ( Self Acceptance), from series “My Chest has Reasons”

TogoYeye is a Lomé based creative duo co-founded by Malaika Nabillah and Delali Ayivi. Malaika is a Artist and Curator, Delali is a Photographer and Artist. Together, Malaika and Delali find and work with innovative Togolese talent in arts and fashion. Under their creative vision and direction, they create work that hopes to document and empower their creative community at home and in the diaspora. The optimism in Togo Yeye’s imagery shines a light onto Togo’s underrepresented future generations and the dreams and hopes they hold, opening symbiotic conversations about tradition and (re-) defining togolese modernity and history.

@Togoyeye. Leaving Traces, from series “My Chest has Reasons”

“Our main objective is to document and celebrate those who push creative boundaries, and to support young Togolese creatives trough creative productions. We hope to reclaim and challenge historical and contemporary narratives of Togo and it´s diaspora. We believe that through creative collaboration we can strengthen our community and bridge the gap between the Togolese diaspora and people at home. For that reason, our work often addresses the cultural dynamics between the many facets of Togolese identity.”

@Togoyeye. Simélan (Fish From the Water), from series “My Chest has Reasons”

“My Chest has Reasons” interprets the question of what beauty is, as self-acceptance. We looked at the inner work and battles that are often invisible to others and how they shape the body.

In the neo-colonial context there lies a beauty within acceptance of oneself physically, spiritually, and culturally. This is a beauty that is deeply buried within our chests. To accept us as we are including our histories and the traces such as left in our present, creates a sense of comfort. The right to exist and to take up space without having to hide.

@Togoyeye. True Thinks, from series “My Chest has Reasons”

We furthermore drew from personal experiences that have marked us and our thinking deeply. We wanted to show how our understanding of beauty has been warped through our experiences as Individuals but also as a community of young Africans and its diaspora.

My chest has its reasons aims to show there is a beauty in making peace with one’s lives experience whether they are good or bad.