On the Corniche of Dakar, the artisan village of Soumbédioune has concentrated Senegalese leatherwork since the 1960s. Behind the stalls sit the workshops themselves: goat and sheep hides tanned inland, cut by eye, saddle-stitched with two needles and a waxed thread that will outlast the buckle.\n\nSenegalese leather carries a distinct vocabulary — the pyrogravure of geometric borders, dyed panels assembled without adhesive, the woven strap known as the tressage. Much of it was learned inside families of Toucouleur and Wolof leatherworkers, where a boy holds the awl long before he cuts a pattern.\n\nThe pressure now is speed: imported bonded leather and machine stitching sold to the same tourists. The ateliers JAANTE works with have taken the opposite direction — fewer pieces, traceable hides, and prices that let a master keep two apprentices.
