Fez happenings

The cultural life in Fez is buzzing at the moment and there is plenty to choose from. The 4th International Festival of Expressive Dance opens today and our spies tell us that among the local talent performing will be Camilia Ej Hatim, one of the great staff at Cafe Clock.

The festival will feature traditional and contemporary dance performances by troupes from Morocco, France, Belgium, Cameroon, Congo and South Africa.

You will find the provisional programme here: Dance Festival

Also opening at Cafe Clock today is Dhikr, an exhibit of calligraphy, photography, and prose by Mohammed Charkaoui, Robert Harrison and Maryam El Haytami.

Sangoma Everett

At Dar Batha the French Institute will present the Sangoma Everett Quartet playing (we are told) some very funky music!

Also today, there is a public rally in R'cif to save the beautiful gardens beside Cinema Amal. Local residents are upset by plans by some local business people to have the area cleared of the gardens. The View from Fez will report later today on developments.

Further afield, The New York Times has been singing the praises of Morocco. The paper described the imperial city of Fez, as a cultural, intellectual and religious center, saying that “its medieval medina, Fes el Bali, is especially intricate and sprawling” featuring places, such as the 14th-century Bou Inania school and mosque with their stunning decorative artwork.

The New York Times also recommends its readers not to miss to visit “the ninth-century Karaouine University, considered the world’s oldest continuously operating institution of higher learning; and the leather tanneries.” Mmm - hardly "in depth" reporting!