Tess Ax:son Johnson Photographer: Christina Ekman

Tess Ax:son Johnson was born in Sweden into a family with international
roots. By living abroad part time she also learnt French and German. She
was surrounded by books and ethnic items from South America.

Her curiosity for these cultures deepened when she inherited her
grandfather's South American collection which made her travel to South
America with her 5 year old son. They lived with the Guambianos Indians
in the mountains in the southern part of Colombia.

She returned several times and made a photo session of her son
meeting an other culture. She decided to study anthropology and art.
Through her work as an computer consultant she went many times to Ethiopia.
She discovered that she wanted to learn more about the African continent.
She visited Guinea Bissau, Senegal and Burkina Faso.

The fascination of the people and their art made her open a gallery in
Stockholm. In the beginning of the 90's she went to visit a friend in Niger
and from that day she visited Niger as soon as she could. She became
friends with the Wodabe nomads and stayed during periods with them
in the desert. 1995 she bought an old mud house in Agadez. She decided
to live in Burkina Faso until the rebel war was over. During her time in
Burkina Faso she started to design jewellery and other items. In the
beginning of the 2000 she and her Touareg husband who comes from
Niger decided to settle in Agadez. A couple of years later she bought the neighbouring house and started to remodel the 2 houses into a guest-
house. She wanted to create a small guesthouse where she could combine
African art and design. Last year she opened a gallery in Agadez with arts
and crafts from all over Africa.