Nofin'ankizilahy / Boys Dream

Morengy is a traditional martial art practiced on the west coast of Madagascar by the Sakalava people. Once a training ground for defense and combat, it has evolved into a popular spectacle that fuses ritual, athleticism, and performance. Traditionally held outdoors, often on a dusty dirt field, the fights are surrounded by spectators who form a tight circle, creating an intimate yet charged atmosphere. The air is thick with the sound of salegy music, which accelerates the rhythm of the struggle, urging the fighters on. This event is more than sport—it is a theatrical confrontation, a space where the personal and the symbolic collide.

The images in Boys Dream were taken in Nosy Be, an island off the north coast of Madagascar that has become a key tourist destination. As the island transforms under the pressures of a tourism-driven economy, many young people are left marginalized—excluded from the economic benefits of the tourist boom, and disconnected from the traditional livelihoods that once defined the island’s way of life. Amid these shifts, Morengy remains a powerful means of resistance—a local, embodied performance that offers the youth of Nosy Be a sense of dignity, belonging, and pride.

Christian Sanna’s photographs capture these intense, fleeting moments where the fighters—known locally as fagnorolahy—become more than just athletes. They are transformed into heroic figures, figures that evoke the energy of classical sculpture or epic theater. Through black-and-white imagery, Sanna highlights the duality of this practice. He presents the fighters as both grounded individuals—portraits of young men seated in contemplation before the battle—and larger-than-life figures as they enter the ring, caught in mid-motion, their bodies suspended in time and space. The camera isolates gestures, moments of preparation, and the dramatic intensity of the struggle, infusing them with a mythic quality.

In doing so, Sanna’s work transcends mere documentation. It becomes a meditation on identity, resilience, and tradition in the face of modernity. The fighters are not simply participants in a local event—they are symbols of a broader struggle, confronting the forces of cultural erosion and economic disparity. Their bodies, locked in the ritual of combat, speak to a deeper need for preservation and assertion in a rapidly changing world.