These six books presented for the show originated in the work of French author Marie NDiaye, whose novel Three Strong Women was published in 2009.
In the third part of the novel a young woman called Khady Demba flees her birth country, having found no moral support among her own family. She never ceases to be constrained or affronted by violent episodes, as her voyage takes her from a desert, a town surrounded by desert sands, through a dark forest, and on to the last stage of her desperate flight: a frightful meeting with soldiers.
Six series of ink drawings surround NDiaye's text. In all, 36 ink drawings and 6 linocuts make up the 6 nearly identical box sets.
Each series is rooted in a landscape, a situation or a state of mind through which Khady wanders during her journey of hope against hope. From a predominance of black to one of white, the covers reveal the diversity of her internal world and her growing awareness of external elements while, conversely, her physical state deteriorates.
The almost square design of each volume illustrates her quest for an ever clearer and more definite state of mind; an active quest and defining trait of Khady's character.