Gawriya Jat - art in the Fez Medina

This Friday at Café Clock sees the opening of an exhibition of painting , prints and calligraphy by the talented American artist, Dominique Ellis. The View from Fez caught up with her today as she prepared for the opening. (You can click on any of the images below to enlarge them.)

Dominique Ellis

It is a long way from the University of Nebraska to a small village south of Marrakech, but that was just one part of the journey being undertaken undertaken by Dominique Ellis over the last three years. Dominique is a ceramicist and printmaker and between being a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco beginning in 2006 to taking up a Fulbright grant in Cairo in September this year, there was not a lot opportunity for Dominique to actually work at her art. Yet, somehow this hi-octane young woman has done just that.

"Zaz"

Dominique's exhibition is aptly titled Gawriya Jat (The foreign girl came). As Dominique explains, "Firstly, it denotes the foreign non-native speaker that I once was. Secondly, as a foreigner using this term, I hope to generate laughter, humour and positivity."

"Sometimes Qadiya Hamda"

"Mazel Flip"

"Mza3za3"

One of the inspirations for her Dominique's work is Moroccan (Darija) slang. As she explains, "Slang captures a moment of culture and is always at the forefront of the current generation." She adds that "...spoken word is the needle that sews the idea and attitudes of a culture together. In addition, slang lends a vibrancy to the tapestry of language. Having seen some of her work first hand we suggest you make sure you don't miss Dominique's exhibition

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