Four years in Benin

 

Introduction

Artists are mainly concerned and interested in concepts as individuals’ behaviors, peoples’ cultures and social relationships and what stirs their feelings and emotions deeply are the marvelous and wonderful creation of Allah Almighty, as manifested in His great universe.

Therefore was my smooth, sincere and spontaneous interaction with the scenes of splendor, creativity and beauty that Allah, the Great Creator, has blessed this vast universe with; in land, sea and air; with people, animals, birds, mountains, heaven and earth.

I interacted with that beauty in all its forms and shapes when I moved to Benin. I used to contemplate the captivating nature, as well as the expressions of the faces around me in the different situations; whether they are happy, cheerful or difficult and painful faces. Children’s innocence attracted me, with their beautiful faces, their black eyelashes, beautiful clear features, charming eyes, captivating smiles and overwhelming innocence.

Nature in Benin, as in many countries of Africa, is picturesque, with bright and cheerful colors. That is why it was just normal for that nature, with its beauty and  glamorous splendor, to touch upon the behaviors and morals of Benin people. It is known that environments reflect on the mood and temperament of the persons therein, even to the extent of shaping their face features and structure of bodies, not to mention the huge impact on their psychology, morals and behaviors.

Among the key duties of the skillful (artist) photographer is to include feelings in the photos he captures. Those who believe that photographs are limited to two dimensions, width and depth, are definitely mistaken. This conviction limits the artist’s creativity. As a matter of fact, positive thoughts and feelings have a great influence on the artist’s photos, so he must pay great attention thereto.

Needless to say, “The latent energy of the memories and stories in any place inflames the feelings of the photographer and blasts the energies of creativity and genius in his soul, thus producing photos full of life. The surrounding environment and the photographer’s communication therewith inevitably means phots that force the recipient to stand a long time before them”, says Youssef Al Hosani.

Given the above, dear and honorable reader, I pray to have succeeded  in this book to give you some joy and satisfaction of your longing to see and know about the Republic of Benin, in terms of geography, history, nature, landmarks and the cultures and customs of its beautiful people.

Ebtisam Al-Houti

Kuwait 2021

The Story of this Book

During my stay in the Republic of Albania with my husband, the Ambassador of the State of Kuwait therein, I held two photo exhibitions and published two books in 2019 and 2020, through which I displayed a selection of photos.

The first project, titled “Albania – Beautiful Smile and Generous Hospitality”, sheds light on my unique experience with Albanian people and reflects the beauty, warmth and spirit of Albanian hospitality.

In the second project, titled “Golden Hands: The State of Kuwait – Republic of Albania”, I focused on the intellectual, spiritual and civilizational convergences of artisan women in both countries and the creative works they present, reflecting the feminist and magical side of their artistic touches.

Both projects achieved great success and the President of the Republic of Albania, His Excellency President (Aliier Meta), honored me with the “Special Civil Merit” Award, in appreciation of my successful efforts, with the grace and blessings of Allah, in strengthening the fraternal ties between the Albanian and Kuwaiti peoples and in gratitude for my valuable intellectual, artistic and humanitarian contributions in promoting the best Albanian values and traditions, as well as the Albanian ethnic cultural and tourism wealth, specifically hospitality  and creative craftsmanship; just as mentioned in the grounds of that Award.

That support from the Albanian President was a strong motivation for me to undertake my new photographic project during my stay in the African continent, in general, and Benin, in particular.

On the land of this beautiful country, I discovered my hidden talent and my constant passion for documenting the expressions and faces of people, their cultures and their customs. Hence was this book that contained my prettiest moments and most wonderful situations that I lived and experiences in Benin, which left a deep impression on me, durable in the face of time.

In Benin, life brought me together with people and I lived in places that I have not considered important at the beginning, yet their value and influence appeared and emerged only after distances stroke between us. Hence, images were deeply engraved in my soul and preserved in my memory, only hoping to relive them again.

I collected one shot and one scene after another in that splendid land, which filled my soul with peace and tranquility and reassured my heart. My stay in beautiful Benin lasted for four years, which I spent in calmness and serenity, during which I became acquainted with the customs, traditions and cultures of this beautiful and peaceful society, with its members’ innate coherent social relations and spontaneous ties.

My dear reader, I shall let you now to wander through this book, to swim in the river of beauty and creativity and to fly in the sky of suspense and enjoyment, in a journey we trust that your heartbeats and your conscience would simply recite the words of Allah Almighty: “Most Blessed is Allah, the Best of Creators” (Al-Mu’minum, 14).

 

Acknowledgment

In conclusion of this brief and illustrated trip in the friendly Republic of Benin, I hope that I have presented you with a simple and expressive touch of art about this beautiful country and its kind and generous people.

It is my pleasure in this regard to point out that this book has been possible only with the grace of Allah Almighty and His blessings and gifts I am endowed with and then with the cooperation of those who participated in preparing this work and exerted their effort and time to bring out my idea in the best possible way.

In this respect, I can only express my great thanks and gratitude to Mr. Irzan Pasha and Mrs. Najat Al-Maghribi for their help and support to bring this work to this good level, with the grace of Allah.

I extend to them my sincere thanks and great gratitude, praying that may Allah reward and bless them with great goodness.

Finally, my mind, memory and sentiment treasure several beautiful memories that I lived and enjoyed in Benin; where I was honored to get acquainted with a distinguished group of dear, virtuous women from my beloved country, Kuwait, and the sisterly states of Qatar and Kingdom of Morocco; brilliant women with genuine ethics, which extended the bridges of communication and love among us and contributed to forming wonderful friendships and spending those lovely times together.

During my stay in Benin, I also gained knowledge about a society of civilization, social customs, beliefs, traditions and cultural behaviors that differ from ours. No wonder, since every society has its own system, customs, traditions and cultures that are passed down over generations till they became part of Benin’s faith and cultural and popular heritage.

Therefore, getting acquainted with such wonderful society, with its simple behaviors and beautiful, innate and modest morals, moving away from the negative effects and enormous damage of technology on the human body, has made my stay in Benin full of pleasure and mental health, which had a profound impact on myself and the path of my life. Praise be to God Almighty.

For the above reasons, and others, those days shall remain beautiful and kind memories rooted in my consciousness and engraved in my heart, that I shall never forget!

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds