Acclaimed Ethiopian artist Aida Muluneh created the photographic series “Water Life” to highlight the lack of access to clean water, which has a particularly devastating impact on the lives of women and young girls globally.
The series features 12 impressive pieces, commissioned by WaterAid with support from the H&M Foundation, and was photographed in the extreme landscape of one of the warmest and driest places in the world, Dallol, Afar, in northern Ethiopia.
Overall, one in ten people does not have clean water close to home and one in four does not have a decent bathroom, situations that cause illnesses such as diarrhea that claim the life of a child every two minutes.
In Ethiopia, the figures are revealing, with almost six out of ten people being denied access to drinking water, despite the significant progress that the country has made in the past 20 years.
Aida herself, while living in Ethiopia, encountered rows of women who traveled on foot and carried heavy loads of water. Her images express these harsh daily realities, which affect not only the progress of women but also the future of their communities.
Inspired by the traditional ornamentation and body painting of the African continent, the Ethiopian-born artist explored not only issues of water scarcity and ecological emergence, but also the vital role of art and how Africa is represented in the media. global.