Fishermen

The young painter of this piece lives in Ganvié, a village in Benin that was built on the Lake Nokoué. The origin of this village was the flight of the Tofinu people, who were escaping to avoid capture in order to be sold as slaves to European traders. Because their main industries are fishing and fish farming, Narcisse is inspired by what he sees every day. This work presents a group of fishermen throwing their nets to set the traps for the fish. The two young boys are throwing the nets to capture fish, one with a red swimsuit and the other with a swimsuit in yellow, two of the three colors of the Benin flag. The color missing is green, the symbol of hope, that is being substituted by shades of black and grey.