In Senegal, a major phase of industrialization is underway. While Ydi Gueye watches helplessly as a major industrial port is built on the outskirts of his village, Bandia is preparing to leave his, soon to be replaced by a gold mine. As for Pape Moussa, he has returned to cultivate the former phosphate mining quarries, now abandoned and contaminated. Each of these tra- jectories traces the contours of a territory that imperceptibly trans- forms and slips away to make way for the industrial world. 6,000 kilometers away, in Belgium, from the top of a coal heap, Fadel Wade wonders about the traces left by industrialization. Despite the distance that separates our territories, can we not see a convergence in our narratives?