France, Aug. 30 -- In Madagascar, winter brings with it a unique family gathering. Across the central highlands, communities practise the famadihana - the "turning of the dead". The ritual, rooted in Austronesian culture and dating back to the 16th century, involves exhuming ancestors, wrapping them in fresh silk shrouds and celebrating them in a lively, joyful ceremony.

In Ambohidranandriana, a village about an hour's drive south of Antsirabe, in the volcanicVakinankaratra region, music and laughter rise from a noisy procession weaving between the family tombs.

For Fitahina, 25, the day is deeply personal. She came to honour her grandmother, who died before she was born.

"I am happy to meet her because I never knew her. I have been wa...