Tabaski* est la plus populaire et la plus grande fête religieuse du Mali, où la population est en majorité musulmane. Les jours qui précèdent, le pays tout entier est absorbé par les préparatifs en attendant de connaître la date fixée par le calendrier lunaire. Chaque père de famille doit acheter un mouton, pour célébrer le sacrifice d'Abraham, ainsi que des habits neufs pour la famille, afin de se présenter à Dieu dans une tenue correcte en ce jour de fête ; les enfants, particulièrement, sont ainsi équipés de neuf au moins une fois l'an. Les moutons envahissent les villes : on trouve des foirails sur le bord des routes et les embouteillages bloquent les boulevards. Toute la ville est dans la rue, l'argent circule frénétiquement. Les échoppes de tailleurs bourdonnent jusque tard dans la nuit, les journaux titrent sur les moutons et toutes les discussions des pères de famille portent sur leur prix, leur santé, jusque dans les bus et les queues à la banque où l'on demande des crédits pour couvrir les dépenses. Lorsque le grand jour arrive, les hommes se rendent le matin à la prière avec les jeunes garçons dans leurs boubous empesés et les vieilles femmes aux pieds teints au henné. Après la prière, les gens se souhaitent une bonne année "sembé sembé" et se demandent mutuellement d'effacer leurs offenses, car c'est également le jour du pardon. Puis les hommes égorgent le mouton lavé à l'aube, pendant que les femmes préparent le riz et les boissons sucrées. Les enfants mangent les premiers, puis circulent avec des plats de viande que les familles s'offrent mutuellement en fonction des liens d'amitié, de voisinage ou d'alliance. C'est l'occasion de faire l'aumône aux familles pauvres, mais aussi de faire étalage de sa richesse auprès de la communauté. [*] La Tabaski, plus connue sous le nom de "fête du mouton", est définie dans le Coran comme une fête se déroulant lors du pèlerinage à la Mecque. La date de la Tabaski étant dépendante du calendrier lunaire, elle n'est connue qu'une semaine à l'avance par décision d'une commission nationale. Fait original dans le monde musulman d’Afrique de l’Ouest, les fêtes religieuses ont des noms wolof : c'est le cas de la Tabaski, qu’on appelle aussi « Aïd El Kebir » dans les pays du Maghreb.
Bamako, Mali. It is now one week before the festivities for the Tabaski Festival (Festival of Sacrifice) and preparations are well under way. Depending on the style that they've chosen, girls can spend 2 to 5 days in the hands of expert plaiters, hoping to become the belles of their suburb.
BRP0033395x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
Seduction. The women try especially hard to attract men's favours at this time of year. They turn on the charm, in the hopes of finding the means to buy a new boubou, jewellery or to afford a new hairstyle, in order to look as beautiful as possible for the Tabaski Festival.
BRP0033396x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
Hairdressing salon in a street in Bamako.
BRP0033397x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
In Lafiabougou, at one of the biggest agricultural fairs in Bamako, Peul, a shepherd proudly displays one of the animals in his herd, in the hopes of gaining the best price.
BRP0033398x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
From the end of December, many shepherds, often accompanied by one or more parents, travel several hundreds of kilometres on foot with their herds to sell them in the big markets of the big cities.
BRP0033399x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
Business. The price of sheep varies a lot according to supply and demand, during the days leading up to the Tabaski Festival. A sheep of average size costs between 50 000 and 150 000 Malian CFAC (75 - 230 Euros), which represents a fortune for each head of the family.
BRP0033401x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
The animals are chosen according to their size and weight. But the shepherds also pay great attention to the cleanliness of the coat and more generally to anything that is likely to attract customers. There is a lot of competition.
BRP0033402x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
Once the negotiations are over, each head of the family takes his sheep home by any means possible on a shoestring budget... Sheep are everywhere: on foot, on the roof of sotramas (public transport) or in the boots of cars or taxis.
BRP0033403x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
The sheep live their final hours at the entrance to the concessions*, the ideal place to proudly exhibit to the neighbours the wealth of one's family, according to the quantity and size of the animals. (*) Housing unit shared by several families.
BRP0033404x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
The fabrication of boubous and basins is the other lucrative economic activity of the festival.
BRP0033425x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
Waiting. Since dressmakers' lists of orders are often overloaded during the festive period, clients wait and oversee the work, making sure that their clothing, specially designed for Tabaski, will be ready in time for the celebrations.
BRP0033405x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
All-nighters. Dressmakers often work day and night during the week preceding Tabaski, to be sure to honour their clients' numerous orders.
BRP0033406x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
Nocturnal hairdressing salon: it is 2:00 am in Bamako.
BRP0033407x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
Tabaski starts in several hours and women are still touching up their hair right up until the last moment.
BRP0033408x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
Dressed in their best clothes, children go to morning prayers.
BRP0033409x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
The mosques are so full on the day of Tabaski that many believers assemble in the street for the traditional prayers.
BRP0033410x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
A hole is dug to receive the blood of the sheep that will be slaughtered.
BRP0033411x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
Traditionally, it is the Imam of the area who does the rounds of the concessions to sacrifice the sheep bought by the heads of the families.
BRP0033412x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
Meal preparation. All day, the women religiously prepare the various dishes that will accompany the mutton, each piece is prepared according to a particular recipe and cooking time.
BRP0033413x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
For once, the men participate in the preparation of the meal for Tabaski, especially by cutting up the sheep's innards and by shaving off the hides, which are recuperated.
BRP0033414x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
The young musicians of the area do the rounds of all the neighbouring concessions, to wish them a happy new year, just like the traditional griots (storytellers) who are associated with each major family festival (baptisms, weddings, funerals...).
BRP0033415x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
Musicians come to dance and praise the family living in the concession they've come to visit. For them, it's a way of making money, which raises the budget that the head of the family must allow for the festival.
BRP0033416x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
A father with two of his children.
BRP0033420x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
A mother and her child.
BRP0033421x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
It's now the end of the day and the family obligations are over. Mahamadou Keita is a young Malian from Bamako. His friends nickname him 'Eminem', as he is a fan of American rap music.
BRP0033424x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
It's now the end of the day and the family obligations are over.
BRP0033423x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
Old Konaté. The doyen of a concession, with his trusty transistor radio.
BRP0033422x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
The elders conclude the family day. Men on one side, women on the other.
BRP0033418x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
Men on one side, women on the other. Here, three women had their dresses made in the same fabric in order to save some money.
BRP0033419x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud
At nightfall, young people are finally freed of their family obligations. They get together with a few drinks and a cassette player which blasts out rap music in the street.
BRP0033417x © Pierre-Yves Brunaud