Anaïs Lopez: In the Beginning No Bird Sang

The past two years Anais Lopez and Eva Smallegange worked on this book. They travelled to Burundi (Central Africa) and got to know this country, its inhabitants and its culture. Through photography and writing they show contemporary Burundian life in different strata of society. Tying all these colorful stories and images together was a long process, but the results are amazing.

They succeeded in making a book with a positive outlook, containing personal stories of our guide and main narrator Koky. He tells about his childhood and introduces ten of his friends from different strata of society such as: the manioc miller from whom he buys his flour, the princess who was once engaged to his brother, the president and his cousin the cow herder. They share their view on what you need to survive in this intriguing country, five years after the ending of the civil war that raged for years: to get things done you need the right connections.