Abstract:

Trans-Humance is a collaborative artistic research project initiated by Cécile Ndiaye exploring the sensitive relationships between leather, the living, and the territory through an interdisciplinary approach combining vernacular practices and scientific methods. The project aims to document, question, and transmit know-how related to vegetable tanning, creating new narratives based on the material, the bodies who work it, and the environments it transforms. 

As part of this workshop, Cécile Ndiaye partnered with HAB partner and artisan dyer Idrissa "Badri" Dembele, receiving plant-dyed leathers sourced from Mali—marking the beginning of a cross-border exchange and material dialogue between artisans and researchers. The workshop focused particularly on indigo and natural finishing techniques. The Trans-Humance workshop also occurred at the same time and in conversation with Idrissa's Natural Dyes Workshop for Eco-Friendly Fashion 

Through this collective experience, participants were introduced to dye application techniques, leatherwork, and the history of these deeply rooted practices within shifting territories. In the presence of artisan women tanners and students, the workshop becomes a space for knowledge circulation, sensory experimentation, and embodied transmission.

Workshop Conductors:

• Cécile Ndiaye, Studio Wudé Leather Workshop, Dakar, Senegal
• Idrissa "Badri" Dembele, Independent Artisan ("Our Home" Bogolon Shop), Bamako, Mali