New Face @ The View From Fez!

Meet Alice

Alice Price is English and currently studying Darija at the American Language Centre in Fez.

Her ambition is to make a career in the media. Having been reading The View From Fez, she decided it would be a great place to pick up some new social media skills. We welcome her to our team covering the Fez Festival of Sufi Culture.

If you see Alice around the festival, please say hello.

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Fez Festival of Sufi Culture

The 12th edition of the Fes Festival of Sufi Culture will take place from the 19th to the 26th of October under the theme: "Sufi culture, a spiritual humanism for our time"

Once again The View From Fez, as an official Media Partner, will be providing full coverage of the festival. Our regular team of photo-journalists has expanded with the appointment of Alice Price as our chief festival reporter.

The festival gets underway on Saturday, with an official opening at the Salle de la Préfecture at 4 pm.
This will be followed at 9pm by an opening night concert - Al Shushtari, Prince of the Troubadours - in the Jnan Sbil Gardens.  The creation, directed by Carol Latifa Ameer, will feature Françoise Atlan, Curro Piñana and Marouane Hajji.

Full programme details are on the festival website HERE

One annual concern for the festival is the weather. At this stage it looks as though the opening night temperatures will be around 18 degrees Celsius at 9pm when the concert starts in the Jnan Sbil gardens.

The rest of the week is mixed. There is a possibility of rain on Sunday with a high of 24 and a low of 13 degrees. The following three days are forecast to have lower temperatures (around 19 Celsius) and rain. The final three days of the festival should be free of rain, but cool with a range from 19 to 24 degrees.

It is possible some venue changes may be needed if the rain persists, and we will let you know about those if they happen.

We hope you have a wonderful festival!

And, a reminder: Fes Festival of World Sacred Music 2020 dates: 12-20 June

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22ND NATIONAL FESTIVAL OF THE ART OF MADIH AND SAMAÂ

The 22nd national festival of the art of madih and samaa of Fez will take place from October 4th to 12th, with a rich menu of artistic evenings and religious evenings.

An initiative of the municipality of Fez, this event, placed this year under the theme "the art of madih and samaâ ... authenticity and extension", tends to promote and preserve this authentic art, as a main component of cultural heritage Moroccan.

Now a must-see event for music lovers in the city, the festival includes many shows and religious evenings and dikr in the zaouïas of the city, including those of Sidi Kacem Ben Rahmoun and Addarqaouya.

This edition, which coincides with Moulay Idriss Al Azhar's annual Moussem, will see the participation of a fine selection of national troops of madih and samaa and Sufi music, in this case the Imam Al Boussayri association of Fez, Al Assal of Rabat, Arrayan of the madih and samaa of Oujda, Imam Arrifai of Tangier and the Fassie association of samaa and madih.

A round table around the central theme of the festival will bring together local and national academics, researchers and artists.

The Festival of Madih and Samaa of Fez, dedicated to the preservation of the cultural and artistic inheritance both local and national, is part, with the Festivals of the art of Malhoun, of the Andalusian music, the Sufi culture and the Amazigh culture, major artistic events organized in the spiritual capital of the Kingdom.

12th annual International Dance Festival

This weekend will see Fez play host to the 12th annual International Dance Festival in celebration of dance in all its forms and genres. The festival, initiated by the Babylon Cult Art Association aims to not only enhance the cultural scene within Fez, but to enlighten its spectators of the significance of dance as a medium for communication. Alice Price reports for The View From Fez

The festival symbolises a setting where artists and choreographic troupes from countries such as Morocco, Tunisia, France, and Spain can come together and bring their own creative insights, all with the same objective - dance.

FESTIDANCE-12 boasts an extensive programme, which will see choreographic shows of Hip Hop, Tango and Contemporary dance across the 4 days, as well as both workshops and screenings aimed at providing a deeper insight into the world of dance and choreography.

Of the performances being showcased across the weekend, “The Orchard of Muses” by director Aziz El Hakim, is one of particular importance in conveying the objectives of the festival. This performance sees the incorporation of visual paintings alongside a range of dance styles from Japanese Buto, Flamenco and Hip Hop, which climaxes in a spectacular celebration of dance in its entirety.

The programme:

Thursday, October 03, 2019 / 18:00
Gallery of the French Institute of fez
Painting Exhibition Signed: Fabienne Colin, in partnership with the French Institute of fez.
Friday, October 04, 2019 / 19 pm
Dar Batha French Institute of Fez / 20:00
Opening night
Tribute to the avant-garde choreographer Babette Gazeau
Choreographic return, creation residence 2019 "the orchard of muses"
By: Babylon Cult-Art (Morocco - France-Spain)
Saturday, October 2019, 05 / 17:00
Media Library of the French Institute of fez
Ciné-Dance: screening of some choreographic extracts, followed by a round table entitled: "basic keys for the reading of the choreographic show"
Speakers: Babette Gazeau, Véronique Ben Ahmed (France) Hassan Yousfi (Morocco) Moderator: Aziz Hakim,,
Dar Batha French Institute of Fez / 19:00
Part 1: Choreographic show "Resilience" Contemporary dance
Choreography & Dance: Roberta Pupotto (Germany)
Part 2: "The Dancer" with Véronique Ben Ahmed & Charlotte Leroy (France)
Sunday 06 October 2019/ 19:00
Name my Ali Chrief - who wants to go to his place (I will go)
Springboard of young dancers to professionalism
Choreographic show "Psycho-machine"
Hip Hop, Tango, Calinka, Pilobolus & contemporary,,
By Company: Dripping Spirit (Morocco)
Monday, October 2019, 07 / 19:00
Name my Ali Chrief - who wants to go to his place (I will go)
Choreographic show "freedom" Street Dance Elle
Choreography & Dance: Omar Alaoui (Morocco)
Tuesday, October 08, 2019/19 PM
Dar Batha French Institute of fez
Closing night
Part 1: presentation of workshop work
Part 2: Solo performance "the mue" Choreography & Dance: Babette Gazeau Contemporary Dance (Thémadanse - France)

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Join the Largest Social Photography Event in the World!

Join the Largest Social Photography Event in the World! Saturday, October 5 at 10 AM in front of The Blue Gate ( Bab Boujloud)

On Saturday, October 5, 2019, the whole world will be walking again during Scott Kelby’s 10th Annual Worldwide Photowalk. Taking place in cities around the world, photographers of all walks of life and skill levels gather together to socialise, share and inspire during this one-day, worldwide event.

About the Fez walk : https://worldwidephotowalk.com/walk/fez-gates/

ALC-ALIF Photography Club will be leading the 2019 Worldwide Photowalk that is taking place in Fez, Morocco. We are going to meet in front Bab Boujloud (the Blue Gate)

ALC–ALIF Photography Club
Omar Chennafi
Email: alifphotoclub@gmail.com
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Should Chefchaouen be blue or white?

The city of Chefchaouen, which is famous for its streets painted in blue from indigo or "nila", is experiencing a debate on its visual identity, between those who are committed to the colour "blue" and those who are for "The return to the white colour"

In the midst of this uncertainty, most of the opinions, expressed through social networks, line up behind the indigo blue colour of the city walls, considering that this colour is the identity of the city, which became famous at the time. nationally and internationally and has contributed to the promotion of tourism and the local economy.

Thanks to its current identity, the Blue Pearl has become one of the most important tourist destinations in the world. Tourists from the world of art and literature are attracted by its narrow streets, which have provided an original setting for many TV programs, films and documentaries.

The inhabitants of this city, located in the mountains of the Rif, remember that at least 30 years ago, the facades of the houses were painted white and softened by the addition of a little indigo (blue), so that the reflection of the light on the white walls did not dazzle the eyes of the inhabitants, who were anxious to take care of the facades and to clean its alleys.

If Chefchaouen or Chaouen became famous in recent years for its indigo blue colour, which earned it the title of "The Blue Pearl", it has, thanks to its potential tourists become an "international brand" attracting thousands of visitors Moroccans and foreigners throughout the year, contributing to the growth of the local economy.

In a statement the scenographer Rafika Ben Mimoun said that the debate over the colour of the city divides the lovers of the city, believing that all points of view must be respected and that a debate "should be open in all the cities of Morocco to endow them with a visual identity."

"The colour blue has helped attract the filming of many cinematographic and television works in the city," said the scenographer, who worked as artistic director in the series "Bnat Lalla Mennana", explaining that "it was easy for example, to convince the technical staff to turn all the episodes of the series to Chefchaouen, because the blue colour facilitates the external shooting in the alleys, unlike the white ".

Between white and blue, the inhabitants of Chefchaouen found themselves in the middle of a debate where the tastes and desires were confronted to try to create a new visual identity of a city which has become famous, thanks to the singularity of its houses Andalusian blue style.


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Moroccan Photo of the Day - Climate March

Thanks to Bonnie Kaplan for her photo of the Climate March in Fez with almost 1000 people turning out.

See more in our series Photo of the Day 

The View from Fez welcomes contributions to our Photo of the Day Series

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Climate March in Fez

Faced with political inaction in the face of the climate emergency, the AESVT, AMCDD, Greenpeace and their local partners decided to join their efforts to organise a youth march for the climate in Fes on September 27th. It will start at the beginning of Hassan II Avenue at 16:00 and end at 18:00 at the end of Hassan II Avenue.

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