Text and images by Ainhoa Ezkurra Cabello
This year commemorates fifty years since Spain’s exit from Western Sahara, leaving an unhealed scar. The Sahrawi community continues to exist in exile and diaspora, stripped of their right to self-governance and sovereignty.
The initiative Mtmarfga stems from extensive dialogues with Mulaha, portraying her experiences as emblematic of the struggles faced by numerous Sahrawis in the diaspora while highlighting their enduring absence from mainstream narratives.
A travel document issued under the UN Convention of September 28, 1954, enabling stateless persons to travel internationally when they lack a passport from their home country.
Blurred identity.
Mulaha came to Spain as a young girl through Vacaciones en Paz, a humanitarian initiative that has enabled Sahrawi children to spend summer holidays with Spanish families, offering an alternative childhood compared to life in refugee camps. What started as a short vacation turned into a transformative phase in her life.
Childhood photograph of Mulaha alongside the Western Sahara flag.
Detail of fingers emerging through a ripped map of the Atlantic, aiming towards northwest Africa.
Mulaha’s personal journey reflects the collective struggle of a scattered, fragmented, and often overlooked community sustaining its existence between history and today. Despite having lived predominantly in Spain, Mulaha remains in a state of statelessness, which signifies not just the lack of legal acknowledgment but also the absence of a nationality to guarantee fundamental rights accessible to many. Within her identity lies the nation where she resides and the one that persists in her language, memories, and roots. In the coming year, after a long two-decade wait, Mulaha will finally receive a Spanish passport, enabling her to travel freely.
Poem from the work Devenir Seiba by the Sahrawi author Tfarrab.
Mtmarfga translates to “relaxed” in Hassanía, an Arabic dialect utilized by the Sahrawi people. It represents how women rest at home—a simple act that symbolizes endurance, resistance, and visibility. This project sheds light on this quiet existence, affirming that against all odds, the Sahrawi people continue to assert their identity, memory, and claim to visibility.
“Those who try to occupy the desert will be swallowed by the sand.”
Nationality: Stateless
Upon inquiring:
—What destination do you dream of visiting once your Spanish citizenship is granted?
She answered:
—To be honest, I haven’t really contemplated it, but I certainly want to explore Africa.”
Mtmarfga
Mulaha Focu Yuli (29)
About the artist
Ainhoa Ezkurra (1988) is a visual artist from Spain, currently based in both Barcelona and Formentera. With a foundation in cinematography, she engages in independent and editorial ventures, concentrating on empathetic portraits, cultural traditions, and social transitions. Her photography tackles stereotypes, collective memory, and diverse identities, in search of humanistic beauty within everyday experiences.
