Five women intoxicated by adventure and animated by a powerful need to learn and experience, we offer an unusual odyssey to discover a country, its ancient cultures and traditional medicine, offbeat and original way, straddling "local" motorcycles.

They are about to discover Cuba and Santeria. Without being feminists, their eyes instinctively look at women. They want to meet women who are fulfilling themselves through their work, so far from our borders, with their own codes of femininity and their worldview.

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Some of them ride for a very long time... Some others just start... Before being bikers, they are modern and chic women. Rebels, anti-conformists, they think differently their freedom and always move forward. In their thirties, they are model, actress/director, consultant, surgeon or Ayurvedic therapist.

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Their part

Far from the stereotypes of women as objects, our 5 girls, free as air, are assuming their femininity and remain attractive in all situations (yes you can on the pictures), embody a lifestyle to convey, rock and unattached.

Their interest is meeting people, telling the world their stories through what may have been more common in this century: the movement.

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They are used to travel off the beaten path. Aesthetes rather than seasoned mechanics, they find these machines and transport charming, there is an irresistible nostalgia, style. They ar not totally autonomous mechanically and does not claim to be, so they are by necessity and by taste brought to meet new people and get in touch with all those who help they to complete their odyssey.

For them, move to the fashion of the country, it is both a principle of pleasure and discovery: beautiful images generator for authentic encounters, and all kinds of situations: travel on such craft, ie ' is most often foster curiosity and friendliness of the people encountered.

Inevitably they will face multiple failures and damage that will open the doors of small garages, backyards, homes or other unexpected places. If the machine is the focal point, it remains a pretext to go beyond, to grasp something of the lives of people and populations, their memory and their imagination, as their current problems .

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The road trip would be built on emblematic places steeped in the "Santeria" in terms of music, religion / cult ceremonies, nature and medicinal plants.

Cuba and Santeria

They want to discover Cuba before the invasion of American capitalism.

They will try to capture before a deep and inevitable transformation, the vintage charm of this small island where time has slowed down. Strolling to the rhythm of his music, get drunk smells of its sacred plants, contemplating its architecture and be amazed to see all those cars that have disappeared from our cityscapes decades ago, feel the uniqueness one of the last communist bastions in the world.

Seize the last moments of Cuban culture before seeing its streets invaded the McDonalds and Starbucks ...

Santeria is the result of a mysterious alliance of animist beliefs, rituals of African (Yoruba faiths) and Catholicism of the Spanish settlers.

Forbidden to slaves, some stories say that they were cheating the Church by suggesting they venerated Catholic saints, when in fact behind each saint, they worshiped Orisha an equivalent human demigods, representing the various forces of nature. Yoruba syncretism used to protect and sustain their religious cults against the colonizers.

Today Santeria allow the Cuban people to claim their African origins. It is an undeniable aspect of its spiritual identity. It expresses itself quietly through folklore, music or sacred therapies. This trip will explore the underground world where Santeria is hiding. The girls will the essence of it during a ritual ceremony of this ancient culture, lost in communities, families, houses where the rituals are practiced.

But they want also to face 2 medicines, Cartesian Western medicine with the spiritual and sacred medicine; because next to the regular medication, spiritualism came to reveal another force in the healing mediumship and the influence of prayer.

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Machines and men

Less than half a century, only a few adventurers dare to travel on a motorbike beyond the borders of Europe; it was a bit unconscious to ride an unreliable mechanic.

Today these Motorcycle tours guarantee totally personal itineraries, allowing the richness of the original documentary: Since the bike allows the side roads, let's go to the discovery of these communities living in the uncomfortable end tracks. The two-wheelers slip and easily offer the challenge: free, you can go a little further than the easiest and busy road.

This is not a specific bikers story, it's quite the opposite. The bike is a great travel companion and is today a standard of coolness, we can even see it on the catwalk or in the windows.

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Fashion…

Because if they dare to venture into the most unlikely lands, on the steepest road and brave the unleashed elements, they are nevertheless concerned about their appearance.

Every trip is a source of stylistic inspiration, amazons from sciences fiction in the country of mad max or influenced by drivers in the twenties, they already think themselves as gypsy bohemians in the country of Santeria and voodoo traditions ...

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He is following them ..…

GÖTZ GÖPPERT

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Götz, lifestyle and beauty photographer, author of documentary series, is passionate about demanding conditions of these areas always renewed.

Driving is second nature to him, he loves telling these human encounters, these incredible epics and fun, never tired to browse kilometers.

True Motographer, with his camera, he will transcribe images of this crazy journey.

He traveled last September with Laura and Louise to cover their trip to Namibia.

First supporters :

Site Götz Goppert

Site Petra Kubatova

site Noelline Besson

site Catherine Zavlav

EXU : Des filles et des motos ! Roadtrip à travers Cuba et la Santeria