Ambi invited to the SDJ addictology unit’s art workshop

For the first time at the SDJ addictology unit, the art workshop welcomed a visual artist to share her journey, her pictorial research, and her know-how and manner in artistic practice with participants. The artist invited to this encounter was Ambi, whose real name is Ambinintsoa Andriankajarivelo.

Over two hours, participants learned about her journey before experimenting with different techniques using candles, ash, coffee grounds, ink, and chalk, on Antemoro paper and old sheets. Used in a controlled and safe way, fire made it possible to create imprints of smoke and flame.

This experience made it possible to explore the notion of trace: what remains, what disappears, and what is transformed. Fascinating yet sometimes unsettling, fire also symbolised a form of transformation: destroying to create, losing to transform.

The session ended with a time for participants to share their feelings. For them, the experience proved enriching, engaging, and soothing. The notion of trace ultimately echoed the traces left by substance use, and the possibility of rebuilding made possible through abstinence.