Beauty contest in Sudan

Military Photographer Pete Muller, taking the civil war in Southern Sudan, went to a beauty contest, which somehow tried to unite the disintegrating country.





It's a beauty contest Miss Malaika. It takes place every December in the capital Juba. During this holiday, rich and poor gather to cheer on the contestants. Why is the background of military conflicts, I decided to take a beauty contest? Because it is one of the few measures by which creates a national identity. Outside the cities tribal communities virtually disconnected from each other. War used this division, but by its end, they only become stronger.

Absence of a transport network over most of the south indicates that geographically distant communities hardly interact. Poor Development of education means that many people are not aware of their national history. And it turns out that Southerners see their primary tribal identity, while the national goes by the wayside. Miss Malaika was the event which sought to instill in people a sense of nationhood.