We all have five senses, one is usually more developed. For Akim Zerouali, it is touch, especially the raw material, which seems to be at the origin of his art. Wood reigns supreme, a proud living material, malleable and robust of which the qualities and resistances guide the artist's hands as much as his thought or his creative will. Attempts, trials, desires and renunciations have succeeded each other over the years until his life circumstances put him at the wall or rather face to face with his desire to sculpt. A studio in New York, isolated from his apartment, the freedom not to work for a living. Many fear the blank page, for Akim Zerouali, on the contrary, it was the key of an important revelation and creation. The repetitiveness of the totems pushes us towards the mother forest and distant cultures! Their multitude reminds us that we belong to a world where originality results from research, not from solitude. It was only recently that Akim made the connection with the tribe from which he descends, "the Fulani" who have carved totem poles from time immemorial. Text by C. Sportis.