About Soap People Duration: November 2008 to January 2009 Location: Zomba, Malawi (SE Africa) A local wood carver (Fan Acido) from 3 miles came to our house the first day we moved in. He brought the typical selection of safari animals, wood penholders, chessboards, etc. After an initial conversation (in English). I told him that I was not interested and that he should never come back to the house (I would find him on the streets if I wanted anything). He continued to stop by, though, until one day James Sande (our friend and the caretaker of the Scottish-Malawi Partnership houses) told Fan (this time in Chichewa) not to come back. Weeks later he came by the university. After a long conversation (I tried to explain to him that I was not interested in curios) we decided to collaborate on a project. The images are a result of the collaboration between myself, Fan, and Elijah (who helped interpret). The number of soap people (13) was meant to represent the population of Malawi (13 million according to some sources). After the completing of the figures, I have started dispersing them through friends. Currently the soap figures are residing in the UK, Netherlands, Malawi and the USA. Home Projects | Archives | Information | Updates |