Time rarely unfolds as a stable, linear sequence for those whose histories have been shaped by war, displacement, and colonial rule. This becomes especially present in the project The Specter of Ancestors Becoming, a collaboration between Tuấn Andrew Nguyễn, the Vietnamese community in Senegal, and RAW Material Company. It began with Nguyễn’s interest in the accounts of Tirailleurs Sénégalais and Indochinois fighting side by side during both World Wars, and of Tirailleurs Sénégalais later defecting to join Vietnamese revolutionary forces. Over time, it was reshaped through encounters with the lived histories, relationships, and politics of the Senegalese-Vietnamese community in Senegal.

During the 1940s and 1950s, Tirailleurs Sénégalais, among other soldiers from the French Empire, were sent to Vietnam to suppress the Vietnamese struggle against French colonization. Shortly after the outbreak of the First Indochina War, Urbain Alexandre Diagne was deployed by the French to Hanoi in 1947. Five years later, he returned with his newly wedded wife, Marie Désirée Simon, and together they welcomed their first three children in Vietnam. This journey, captured in photographs and remembered by their children, would later become one of the points through which RAW began to approach this history.

Founded by the late Koyo Kouoh, RAW Material Company was built as a home for artistic and intellectual practice in Africa. Based in Dakar, Senegal, its work unfolds through five interlinked pillars. One of these is the RAW Residency programme, through which artists join us for a minimum of four weeks. It was through this programme that we were joined by Tuấn Andrew Nguyễn, marking the beginning of a collaboration that would unfold over the following seven years. This shared attention to the alliances formed between colonized peoples gradually led us to the women who followed their Senegalese husbands to a country they had never seen before, and who later had children who would grow up between worlds.

The families Diouf, Gomis, Ndoye, Gueye, Sarr, Doucouré, Thiaw, Seck, Coly, Lame, and Ndiaye, who are all part of the project The Specter of Ancestors Becoming, bring into view the complex realities of perceived betrayal, otherness, and difference, and the conditions that compel a careful choosing of what is remembered and what is forgotten. In this selection of images, the focus shifts to the Diagne family as a way of understanding not only the daily life of Tirailleurs Sénégalais in Vietnam, but also the intricate relationships formed between Senegalese and Vietnamese communities. The Diagne family became one of the places where several of the families mentioned above found comfort and support. Their home was a place that welcomed Vietnamese women and couples, helping them to adjust to life in Senegal.

These images and stories were first shared with us by Sophie Diagne during the research for The Specter of Ancestors Becoming, and it was through her generosity that this history became available to the project.

RAW Material Company