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Congo in Conversation
Bukavu, DRC, May 2020. Women do each other's hair in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu during Coronavirus confinement. © Raissa Rwizibuka Karama for Fondation Carmignac

Congo Embraces Traditional Hairstyles Amid the Pandemic

byRaissa Karama RwizibukaandBernadette Vivuya
December 21, 2020
in Economy
Reading Time: 8min read

Bukavu, DRC, May 2020. Women do each other’s hair in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu during Coronavirus confinement. © Raissa Rwizibuka Karama for Fondation Carmignac

In normal times, Alice Kasanani’s salon styles the hair of around ten women daily in the eastern Congolese city of Goma, but during the height of this year’s pandemic, she averaged only two clients per day.

Each elaborate weave takes hours to create, but with few special events such as weddings and baptisms taking place during the months of confinement and curfews, and with everyone suffering from the economic downturn caused by the pandemic, business steadily dwindled. Still Kasanani refused to close her doors even as restaurants and other businesses were forced to shut under health restrictions imposed by the government.

May 2020, Goma. © Bernadette Vivuya for Fondation Carmignac

“If we close, we don’t know how we will survive because if we don’t make money we cannot live”, Kasanani said, echoing a sentiment expressed by businesses big and small suffering through the pandemic the world over. “Even just doing two or three people’s hair is better than closing.”

  • Bukavu, DRC, May 2020. A woman wears a traditional hairstyle in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu. © Raissa Rwizibuka Karama for Fondation Carmignac
  • Bukavu, DRC, May 2020. A woman wears a traditional hairstyle in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu in May. © Raissa Rwizibuka Karama for Fondation Carmignac
  • Bukavu, DRC, May 2020. Women wear traditional hairstyle in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu. © Raissa Rwizibuka Karama for Fondation Carmignac
  • Bukavu, DRC, May 2020. A woman wears a traditional hairstyle in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu. © Raissa Rwizibuka Karama for Fondation Carmignac
  • Bukavu, DRC, May 2020. Women do each other's hair in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu during Coronavirus confinement. © Raissa Rwizibuka Karama for Fondation Carmignac
Bukavu, DRC, May 2020. Women wear traditional hairstyles and do each other’s hair in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu during Coronavirus confinement. © Raissa Rwizibuka Karama for Fondation Carmignac

Compared to countries in Europe and North America, Congo, which has battled Ebola, measles, and cholera epidemics, has fared relatively well against coronavirus, recording 15,210 cases and 369 deaths.

  • Bukavu, DRC, May 2020. A woman has her hair done in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu during Coronavirus confinement. © Raissa Rwizibuka Karama for Fondation Carmignac
  • Bukavu, DRC, July 2020. Alice Kabuwo, 20, poses with her traditional hairstyle in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu. © Raissa Rwizibuka Karama for Fondation Carmignac
[1] Bukavu, DRC, May 2020. A woman has her hair done in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu during Coronavirus confinement. [2] Bukavu, DRC, July 2020. Alice Kabuwo, 20, poses with her traditional hairstyle in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu. © Raissa Rwizibuka Karama for Fondation Carmignac

Visits to the hairdresser are just as important to clients as to salons, as was illustrated by the worldwide rush of people seeking professional grooming after months of lockdowns earlier this year.

“If we just stay at home because of Covid-19 our hair will become dirty” said Nicole Saruti, a client getting her hair done in Goma. “We need to get our hair done. We negotiate the price with the hairdressers so we can still look good despite this crisis.”

  • Bukavu, DRC, July 2020. Carine Baraka, 22, poses with her traditional hairstyle in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu. © Raissa Rwizibuka Karama for Fondation Carmignac
  • Bukavu, DRC, May 2020. A girl with a traditional hairstyle in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu during Coronavirus confinement. © Raissa Rwizibuka Karama for Fondation Carmignac
[1] Bukavu, DRC, July 2020. Carine Baraka, 22, poses with her traditional hairstyle in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu. [2] Bukavu, DRC, May 2020. A girl with a traditional hairstyle in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu during Coronavirus confinement. © Raissa Rwizibuka Karama for Fondation Carmignac

Hair fashion varies greatly across the continent, but Africa’s dry hair industry, which includes weaves, extensions and wigs, is estimated to be worth $6 billion a year. That lucrative market is driven by popular culture, media, and advertising that idealizes lighter skin tones and straight hair, leaving many African women with the belief that our thick, kinky hair needs to be modified to conform to Western or European aesthetics. Many of us use chemical products to smooth or straighten our hair, often leaving our scalps burned, but we have resigned ourselves to the old adage that being beautiful requires suffering.

In recent years there has been growing push back against the use of synthetic hair among some African women seeking to embrace their natural locks. In Congo, this movement gathered momentum this year during the Black Lives Matter protests for racial justice and empowerment, and many Congolese women moved away from using dangerous skin lightening creams and toward traditional Congolese hairstyles.

“I feel much more myself in my natural hair,” said Alice Kabuwo, 20, as she posed for a portrait in Bukavu.

The photographs shown here represent a revival of Congolese culture and illustrate how we use creativity and tradition to showcase natural hair as a symbol of pride and the reclaiming of ownership over our bodies while being comfortable and proud of our appearance without artificial products. They also show a tradition that needs to be preserved and passed on to the next generation.

  • Bukavu, DRC, December 2019. Women do each other's hair in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu. © Raissa Rwizibuka Karama for Fondation Carmignac Bukavu, est de la RDC, décembre 2019. Des femmes se coiffent les unes les autres. © Raissa Rwizibuka Karama pour la Fondation Carmignac
  • Bukavu, DRC, December 2019. A woman with a traditional hairstyle applies makeup in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu. © Raissa Rwizibuka Karama for Fondation Carmignac
  • Bukavu, DRC, December 2019. A woman with a traditional hairstyle in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu. © Raissa Rwizibuka Karama for Fondation Carmignac
  • Bukavu, DRC, July 2020. Carine Baraka, 22, embraces Akuzibwe, 15, as they wear traditional hairstyles in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu. © Raissa Rwizibuka Karama for Fondation Carmignac
  • Bukavu, DRC, July 2020. Girls with traditional hairstyle embrace in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu. © Raissa Rwizibuka Karama for Fondation Carmignac
[1 – 3] Bukavu, DRC, December 2019. Women with a traditional hairstyles in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu. [4] Bukavu, DRC, July 2020. Carine Baraka, 22, embraces Akuzibwe, 15, as they wear traditional hairstyles in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu. [5] Bukavu, DRC, July 2020. Girls with traditional hairstyle embrace in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu. © Raissa Rwizibuka Karama for Fondation Carmignac

Tags: CoronavirusDaily lifeFashion
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Raissa Karama Rwizibuka

Raissa Karama Rwizibuka

Raissa Karama Rwizibuka is a Congolese photographer living in Bukavu in South Kivu province and a contributor to the Kitoko Oyo project of Focus Congo. She is 23 years old. Nature, art and cultural diversity are her passions. She wants to portray another image of African and Congolese youth through photography.

Bernadette Vivuya

Bernadette Vivuya

Bernadette Vivuya is a journalist and filmmaker based in Goma in Eastern DRC. She reports on issues related to human rights, the environment and the exploitation of raw materials, bearing witness to the resilience of the people in this conflict-affected region.

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📸 Tintype portraits of Congo in Conversation contributors by Finbarr O’Reilly (@finbarroreilly) in Goma, December 2020 : @pamelatulizo, @makangarajustin, @guerchomndebo, @raissa_rkar, @dieudonnedio @guylainbalume, @arty_bashizi, @mosessawasawa @guylainbalume, @charlykasereka & @kudramaliro2. Bernadette Vivuya (@bernadettevivuya) and Ley Uwera (@leyuwera1) are also part of this adventure!
 
⏪ The collaborative online chronicle “Congo in Conversation” by @finbarroreilly, 11th laureate of the #PrixCarmignac Award, was launched in April 2020. Through close cooperation with Congolese #journalists and #photographers, the project addresses the #human, #social and #ecological challenges that the Congo faces today, within the context of this new health crisis. Relaying information via a dedicated website and social networks and presented in a bilingual French-English #monograph, co-published by @fondationcarmignac and @reliefseditions, it provides an outlet for Congolese voices to contribute to the global discourse, communally attest to the on-the-ground situation within this immense country, and raise public awareness.
 
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  • On a cloudy day in Congo’s North Kivu Province last month, Suma, 27, helped his father gather damp leaves to pile atop a mound of mud, sticks, and other vegetation to create an enclosed oven the size of a small hut. Then, with the dark outline of active volcanoes looming behind him, Suma lit a fire inside the smothered kiln to slow burn chunks of dense wood that would, over the course of several days, be turned into charcoal, or “makala” as it is called locally.
 
The father and son duo looked just like field workers the world over, carving out a meagre subsistence from the land surrounding their home village. But here in eastern Congo, on the fringes of Virunga National Park, they are just one small link in a complex and lucrative chain of illegal charcoal production that fuels not only cooking fires for the local population, but also conflict and widespread environmental destruction.

📌 To discover the full report, read our blog. Link in bio.

📸 Virunga National Park, DRC, November 2020. Guerchom Ndebo (@guerchomndebo) for Fondation Carmignac.

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🇫🇷 Novembre 2020 : sous un ciel nuageux dans la province orientale du Nord-Kivu, Suma, 27 ans, aide son père à ramasser des feuilles mouillées pour recouvrir un monticule de boue, de branchages et de végétation abritant un four de la taille d’une petite case. À l’ombre tutélaire des volcans actifs de la région, il allume le fourneau et carbonise des piles de bois dense qui donneront en quelques jours du charbon de bois, le « makala » comme on le nomme ici en lingala.
 
Père et fils ressemblent aux travailleurs agricoles du monde entier, tirant une maigre subsistance des terres qui entourent leur village. Mais dans l’est de la RDC, en bordure du parc national des Virunga, ils sont deux petits rouages d’une chaîne de production complexe et très lucrative : leur charbon n’alimente pas seulement les cuisinières de la population locale, mais aussi nombre de conflits et une destruction généralisée de l’environnement.

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  • “The photographs shown here represent a revival of Congolese culture and illustrate how we use creativity and tradition to showcase natural hair as a symbol of pride and the reclaiming of ownership over our bodies while being comfortable and proud of our appearance without artificial products. They also show a tradition that needs to be preserved and passed on to the next generation.”
 
Videographer @bernadettevivuya and photographer @raissa_rkar, met in Goma and Bukavu the women who embraced traditional Congolese hairstyles.
 
📌 To discover the full report read our blog. Link in bio.

📸 Raissa Karama Rwizibuka for Fondation Carmignac.
 
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« Les photographies présentées ici documentent un renouveau de la culture congolaise et illustrent le mélange de créativité et de tradition mis en œuvre pour faire des cheveux naturels un symbole de notre fierté et de la repossession de nos corps, tout en préservant sans produits artificiels notre confort et notre belle apparence. Elles dévoilent aussi une tradition qu’il nous faut préserver et transmettre aux prochaines générations. »
 
La vidéaste @bernadettevivuya et la photographe @raissa_rkar ont rencontré à Goma et à Bukavu ces femmes qui ont opté pour des coiffures congolaises traditionnelles.
 
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