Hamadcha Maallems, Mahmoud Guinea, Chérif Regragui and Kbiber on Tuesday shared the stage to set the tone for the 10th Gnaoua and World Music Festival.
The groups performed a complex liturgy called lila or derdeba. The derdeba is jointly directed by a maalem (master musician) at the head of his troop and by a moqadma, who is in charge of the accessories and clothing necessary to the ritual.
The lila ceremony calls up seven saints and supernatural entities (mluk) represented by seven colours, as (according to the Maghreb Arabe Presse) "a prismatic decomposition of the original light/energy" !
The festival, to run till June 23rd, will bring together 25 Gnaoua groups, 250 Moroccan artists and 150 foreign musicians, who will offer the audience a feast of world music.
The festival celebrates the art of Gnaoua, the descendents of slaves originating from Black Africa, who established brotherhoods throughout Morocco. They are made up of master musicians (maâlem), metal castanet players, mediums and their followers.
Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
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