The Temple of Her Skin: Our Embodiment

25 Aug

Who gets to tell stories, who gets to tell your story? How does story relate to the body? What are the stories our bodies tell? These are some of the questions I delve into through the prism of African women, tattoos and scarification, with my guests today Laurence Sessou and return guest Jessica Horn (catch Jessica in S01 Ep. 7 of HUTL) founders of The Temple of her Skin.

Jessica and Laurence, two African women hailing from East Africa and Benin in West Africa respectively were inspired by their own tattoo and scarification journeys to create space for other African women to do the same. Moving away from either the hyper sexualised or anthropological - think National Geographic tribal woman imagery - to discover the real and complex stories of these adorned women, because well, aren’t we all real and complex people? They are discovering as Jessica says ‘where tattooing and scarification sits in our varied African histories’.

We talk about the tattoos that have marked significant moments in their lives. We talk about the difference between tattoos and scarification. We talk about the importance of their grandmothers in their spiritual practices and traditions. We talk about pain, pain not as something we seek after but rather as an almost unavoidable component of bringing something forth - which is why we also talk about childbirth!

We of course talk a lot about the body, about understanding the body, about being connected to the body, about agency over one’s body and how this agency is in fact an act of resistance.

Guest: The Temple of Her Skin

Title: ‘Our Embodiment’

Music on playlist inspired from the African continent:

Sauti Sol (Kenya)

Zoe Modiga - Uthando (South Africa)

J.B Mpiana - Ndombolo (Congo)

Ria Boss (Ghana)

Sena Dagadu (Ghana)

Star Number One De Dakar- Waalo (Senegal)

Mpho Sebina & Pianochella (South Africa)

The Temple of Her Skin Links:

Website