Format: 11 x 16.5 cm
Details: thread stitching, scented print varnish, 256 pages
Concept: Dineo Seshee Bopape
Text: Dineo Seshee Bopape
Secession 2022
Distribution: Revolver Publishing

dupelela
pula…

blessed greetings…

deep strong inhale,
hold for 4 counts,
exhale for 7

smile inside your belly

with 2 fingers, rub the
surface of the paper

smell paper

pula, ga ene! ga ene…!

clap to the rhythm of
your heart beat!

With Secession, Dineo Seshee Bopape transports the reader into the world of African scents. Nothing distracts. The book has been left mostly unprinted, but each right-hand page is coated with a scented print varnish manufactured using a traditional hydro-distillation technique out of the material of earthenware clay vessels to simulate the fragrance of parched soil and withered plants after a rainstorm.

Reinforcing this sense perception associated with powerful emotions and memories, a QR code opens an audio file recoded by Bopape that enhances the experience of rain with an acoustic dimension.