Cherry Festival in Sefrou

Cherry Festival, Sefrou -  28, 29th and 30th of June, 2018

For three days in June each year, the local population of Sefrou celebrates the natural and cultural beauty of the region, symbolised by the cherry fruit and that year's newly chosen Cherry Queen, selected during a pageant that draws competitors from the region and entire country.

Only 35km southeast of Fez, Sefrou is well worth a visit. Share a grand taxi from the stand just down the hill from McDonald's in the new city of Fez. Sefrou is a small town which stands at an altitude of nearly 1000m, has tree-lined streets and a cool breeze that tends to blow even in the summer. The town has a fascinating history as it was a major stopping point for traders making their way from the Mediterranean to the Sahara Desert. And the town was a melting pot of culture as Jewish Berber Moroccans and Algerians settled there from the 13th century.

Cherry Queen

Local community arts organisation, Culture Vultures says: Our suggestion, from an insider’s experience, is start mid-afternoon at the crafts tents, which are well attended and stocked, then move to the t’bourida area for the early evening and finish at the main stage. Know that music can go on until 3 a.m. and the crowd is usually pretty rowdy and that Sunday day is when things start to pack down.

A word of warning!
At the last festival local Moroccans and visitors alike reported a cynical fund raising scam by Sefrou authorities. Visitors' cars, parked legally, were being towed away and police are demanding as much as 400 dirhams to release them. Hopefully they will not repeat the exercise this year!

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Slow Air - Exhibition opens Saturday, October 14th

SLOW AIR is an exhibition arising out of  the Culture Vultures & AiR Sefrou’s one month residency with Abbey Muza & Mustapha Lghomari, Performing Pictures (Geska Brečević & Robert Brečević) and Teerapoj Teeropas.  Nissa Nishikawa reports...

The unique environment in the medina of Sefrou has gathered this international group from USA, Sweden, Croatia and Thailand to explore new works together and independently. A meticulous observation of the intersection of light, craft and space emerges from all four artists in a diverse arrangement of form and material.
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Their examinations of the real and the imagined will be extended to the public at the ALF Riad from October 14th to October 18th.

Abbey Muza - Figues

"It is a sweet, soft, enigmatic power that drives us on. We cease to
think, to feel, to will; we let ourselves be carried away by it, and
ask not whither?”  - Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Venus in Furs

Abbey Muza’s practice of carpet composition stems from her deep research into the tradition of Amazigh weaving. She was drawn to the specificity of this style: the intuitive process using non-traditional materials with symbolic devices that are carried by the weaver to the present day.

Her month in Sefrou has fluctuated between two trajectories. One being the assemblage of a carpet on a loom she built in her bedroom, interlaced with plastics and inclusion of found text. The sensorial and sensual nature of this strenuous act accommodates well to her private quarters-the voluminous walls supporting the visceral process of this ancient form of technology.

The other aspect of her work is with the artist/weaver Mustapha Lghomari in the medina of Sefrou. Passing on knowledge to Abbey from his father and grandfather, Mustapha revealed techniques on how to spin, thread and warp with great speed on the hand-built loom whilst introducing an online archive with an abundance of motifs to apply to their collaboration. Here, Abbey has initiated five meters of brocade work. She has brought this skill into the studio, modifying Mustapha’s loom for a rhythmical exchange.

Mustapha Lghomari - Weave Draft Archive

Mustapha Lghomari is both an artist and an artisan. His father, grandfather, and great-grandfather worked as weavers and he has chosen to continue their craft. However, Mustapha is no ordinary weaver. Making textiles is a passion that consumes him-as he says, it is his life. He passes each day weaving in his studio. At night, he logs into his computer and spends hours making drafts on special weaving software while downloading patterns and images of textiles to his archive. Over the past three years, he has accumulated thousands of such files. Weave Draft Archive displays an extraordinary amount of research into his craft, and is shown here at the ALIF Riad as it was initially shared with Abbey Muza. Abbey has collaged patterns existing in this archive to create the motifs for their collaborative brocade weaving.

Performing Pictures (Geska Brečević and Robert Brečević) - Boxed Walk Cycle 1 & Boxed Walk Cycle 2

Geska Brečević and Robert Brečević are two artists who make the collaborative duo Performing Pictures. Their arrival to Morocco was intended to rouse their deep roots planted in Sweden, Croatia and Mexico.

With work produced extensively in environments abundant with artisans, the philosophy of AiR Sefrou resonated and aligned with their community-orientated endeavours yet with an air of the unknown-this being Robert’s first visit to Northern Africa.

In Sefrou, they have discovered a location devoid of ivory towers and pop culture with people connecting to craft opposed to the conceptual or abstract. Questions of value and purpose in traditional craft and the arts, while straying far from the ‘exoticised experience’, have been prevalent for them. Amidst the necessity of this critical perspective, Performing Pictures moved away from any decorative application in their new work and chose to work with two crude metal boxes: a diptych in perpetual motion.

Revisiting the classical technique of the flip book and the hand cranking animation box, the essence of metallic material is presented within. The detailed photographic observations of texture on metal doors are embedded into the animation while projecting the experience of the tactile; the textured. The movement of these boxes travels from left to right and right to left, implying the Latin and Arabic mode to read. The ebb and flow of the two scripts from this mechanical entity are a gesture of coexistence yet, perpetuating tension as the two shall never meet.

The bare bones of the frames were constructed with Younes Bouhaddoun, a metal worker on the outskirt of the medina. The boxes act as a counterpart to the immaculate white paper applied within. The interior also evokes images of fantastical creatures representing the boundless imagination of the child. The transformation of ‘the kid’ from human to animal is wistfully contained in a box within a box. This remarks again on a relentless motion that never reaches its final objective and the strategy at hand to choose a ‘fascinated indifference’ towards the fundamental oxymoron of life.

Teerapoj Teeropas - Medina

Years ago, Teerapoj Teeropas’s mentors in Thailand saw in his designs a similarity to the colours and shapes appearing in traditional Moroccan crafts. These impressions held a role in instigating his recent journey to Northern Africa.

Integrating quietly into the familiarity of the medina (these streets reminding him of home in Bangkok), the patterns of shadows, the light and the darkness triggered his eyes to the detailed stucco carvings. These dynamic carvings done from the artisan’s innate muscle memory drew Teerapoj to Fes, where he has been working with two skilled brothers, Abid and Hafid.

The scale of this new work is intentionally small and subtle, imprinting generations of wisdom and bridging thousands of miles of cultural divide.

Mindfulness to the physical absence of history and the decaying architectural details in the medina are at the core of this piece. His research, unrestricted and fluid, was noted in derelict riads and pathway formations in the old town. Collected designs of the lost and forgotten were chiseled into the plaster structure directly on the street amongst wide-eyed children and the passerby thus being guided by the immediate environment and all its past resonances.

The exhibition will be open from 6pm to 8pm October 14th until October 18th at the ALIF Riad, 6 Derb Drissi, Batha, Fes. Please join the artists on October 14th Saturday between 6pm and 8pm for drinks and conversations.

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Sefrou's Cherry Festival ~ A Warning for Visitors

Local Moroccans and visitors alike are reporting a cynical fund raising scam by Sefrou authorities. Visitors' cars, parked legally, are being towed away and police are demanding as much as 400 dirhams to release them

The View from Fez, in Sefrou to report and promote the Cherry Festival, was also caught in the scam. After parking in their usual spot where there were no signs indicating that parking was forbidden, they returned to find their car gone. There was no apology from the police who instead demanded a fine.

According to several reports, a mobile "no parking" sign is placed beside a car, then a police photo is taken "proving" the infringement. Complaints to the local police about the behaviour were ignored.

When asking why there were no police informing people not to park, a police spokesperson from the Sefrou Commissariat replied "He was probably on his lunch break or at the toilet".

Local people are happy to welcome visitors to Sefrou, but say they are unhappy that the parking scam is souring the experience and reflecting badly on their beautiful, normally friendly town.

The Cherry Festival continues tomorrow and is worth a visit but the parking scam is a bad move by the local authorities, who should be assisting visitors to park, not using them as revenue raising.

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Art on Show in Sefrou Today

Artist Amberlea McNaught with one of the pieces she created during the residency

Today, Saturday April 18, from 3 pm to 6 pm in Sefrou, you can see the latest results from the Culture Vulture artist's residency program. In Fondouk Huddadine is a series of small "open studios", with artists on hand to talk about their work

Organiser Jess Stephens says that the Culture Vulture's fifth residency program is all about contemporary artists connecting with artisans using traditional methods. "The artisans are often surprised at the artists' skill with tools, their motivation to learn, and the way they apply the techniques," she says.

Two artists who stayed for the whole five week residency were Amberlea McNaught, above, from the UK, and Kristy Morgan from Australia. Other artists who joined them for shorter periods were Sander Wassink from Holland and Cristina Noguer, from Spain.

Plaster containers made by Amberlea McNaught

Amberlea is a ceramist from Sheffield, who occasionally works with leather. She says that the experience of working with master artisan plasterer Abdul Razzak Bahij "blew my socks off". From Fez, he has more than 35 years experience, and has worked on major projects including the Islamic Art exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum. "His technique was simple, but it was his speed and precision that were amazing," she says.

During her residency Amberlea was taught to carve blocks of plaster. "I learned everything through chisel, hand and eye, as we couldn't speak the same language...Before I came here I thought it (plaster carving) was a sacred art that is dead, but it is very much alive. The money is bad, but I love it so much, I don't care about the money."

Local artisan Rachid Farrouch with leatherworker Kristy Morgan and some of her work

Kristy Morgan, from Brisbane, is a leatherworker who makes bags, leather jewellery and shoes. She worked with two sets of artisans during her residency, including Rachid Farrouch. "At the beginning communication was difficult," he says. "However, as we went along we started to understand each other's ways of working and it became more of an exchange...I taught her the techniques I knew, and I was surprised at the way she (Kristy) applied them."

Shoes by Kristy Morgan

While Kristy enjoyed the experience of working with Rachid, she says working with the shoe "malaam", or master artisan, was more difficult, due to the attitude of his apprentices. "I had to push. They didn't understand I wanted to do things myself. They tried to do them for me." She feels gender also played a part. "Even in Australia, being a female leatherworker is not all that common." However she did succeed in making two pairs of shoes.

Kristy found her visit to the Fez tanneries eye-opening. "The conditions they were in gave me a totally new respect for the process. They work really hard."

Jess Stephens from Culture Vultures at the first open studio day

When: Saturday April 18 from 3 pm to 6 pm
Where: Fondouk Huddadine, Sefrou Medina. (Turn left at the river, and left again at the "junk" market, and then first right and ask for the Fondouk. If you get lost, phone 06 45 22 32 03.) 
Info: Culture Vultures CLICK HERE

Artists' websites: Kristy Morgan - rubyandprankstar.blogspot.com; Amberlea McNaught - terrapotter.co.uk


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Artists' Work on Show in Sefrou

In the Sefrou Medina on Friday April 17 and Saturday April 18 from 3 pm to 6 pm, check out the innovative results of the latest Culture Vulture artists' residency. We will be bringing you a full report tomorrow 

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Folk-Opera in Sefrou on Saturday

The contrast between modern urban life and the social structure of a village is the theme of a folk-opera to be performed in Sefrou on Saturday February 28th 

Village Dial Waheda (A Village of One) was developed by Paula Jeanine Bennett (pictured above), a New York based vocalist, percussionist, composer and artist, and first performed in Indonesia. It has been adapted as part of a month long residency with Culture Vultures in Sefrou.

The original concept was inspired by Bennett’s observations of the loneliness of daily life in her home of Brooklyn, New York, a city where fifty percent of people live alone. Bennett has contrasted this to the social structure of the small market town of Sefrou in the Middle Atlas.

Forty local women auditioned for a cast which includes a small choir in addition to traditional musicians and a local storyteller.

Sefrou locals audition for Village Dial Waheda

Following the performance in Sefrou on Saturday, February 28th, Bennett will visit the American Language Centers in Meknes, Fez and Casablanca where variations of the production will take place. Her Moroccan tour wraps up at the ALC in Tetouan,

A scene from the performance in Java

Bennet has performed in Italy, Indonesia, London, India and Japan. In New York City she as appeared at the Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, and Brooklyn Academy of Music. Paula is on the staff of the prestigious Juilliard School as well as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center.

When: Saturday 28th February at 2.30 p.m.
Where: Town Hall, Sefrou
Info: Culture Vultures

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AiR Artisan Residency: Success in Sefrou

Last Friday and Saturday the culmination of a month's work by 10 international artists was on show in Sefrou. Organised by Jess Stephens of Culture Vultures, the artists have been resident as part of the AiR Artisan project 

During September, the artists have worked with local artisans to produce artwork ranging from videos to jewellery, embroidery using human hair, to furniture made from recycled garbage.

Visitors to the exhibition, held on September 26 and 27, included curious locals, city councillors, students and others who had travelled from Fez to see what the artists had been working on. Held in an ancient fondouk in the heart of the Sefrou medina, visitors wandered around the studios and chatted with the artists and each another, while musicians such as jazz guitarist Barry Glick (pictured right) and oud player Hamza El Faski added a laid back atmosphere to the occasion.

As well as the open studios at the fondouk, there were two other spaces nearby featuring a video, as well as a small gallery with two contemporary carpets on display, created as part of the project.

The 10 artists involved in the residency hail from a diverse range of countries. They were Catherine Wilson from Australia, who created a video installation; Hidemi Tokutake, a ceramicist from Japan; Camilia Hall, a designer and artist from Australia; Wilhemina Garcia from the Philippines, an interior designer and social entrepreneur; Alexandra Schmidt from the USA, a radio documentary maker who also works with experimental audio art; Sonia Hamza from France, who works with photography and textiles; Ayano Nishimura from Japan, who creates textile installations; Lisa Bornholdt from Germany, who does installations based on interior architecture; Lucia Perluck, from the USA, who does jewellery, and Fatma Gültas from Germany/Turkey, who works with architecture and philosophy to make installations

Interior designer and social entrepeneur Wilhemina Garcia from the Philippines

Wilhemina worked with local youth from the Dar Shabab

 Philippino interior designer and social entrepeneur, Wilhemina Garcia, involved young people from a local youth centre, or Dar Shabab, in collecting garbage from along the river banks in Sefrou. On the day they did so, a number of other locals joined in enthusiastically.

"We collected a mountain of stuff, and then sorted through it," Wilhemina says. They did an analysis of what the rubbish consisted of. It was mostly different kinds of plastic - and created a pie chart - see below. Working with a local artisan, Wilhemina and the young people cleaned the plastic rubbish, then twisted it into twine that was used to create different kinds of seating.

"I hope that Morocco keeps going with these kinds of environmental initiatives," Wihemina says. "They could really use it." 

Analysis of the rubbish which was collected along the river in Sefrou during the project

Furniture made with twine from the recycled plastic garbage

Another artist participating in the project was Ayano Nishimura from Japan. Inspired by traditional Moroccan embroidery, she used her own hair as thread to create a beautiful border along a piece of fabric.

Ayano Nishimura from Japan

The month long residency proved highly successful, both from an artistic point of view and through interaction with local artisans. Friendships were forged and new skills learned. It was fascinating for the visitors to see the range of what had been created.

The next AiR Artisan residency will be held in March. Details on their blog - link below.

Hamza El Faski entertains the locals

Jess Stephens from Culture Vultures, who organised the residency

See our previous story on AiR Artisan CLICK HERE

For info on AiR Artisan residencies, see the Culture Vultures blog CLICK HERE 

Story and photos by Suzanna Clarke

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Artists and Artisans On Show This Week

The results of the AiR Artisan month long artists' residencies come to fruition this week. On Tuesday a round table discussion about artisanship will be held in Fez, while on Friday and Saturday, ten international female artists will have their work on show in Sefrou

Artwork by Australian artist Camilla Hall

During September, the AiR Artisan project, initiated by Jess Stephen's Culture Vultures, saw ten female artists from Spain to Japan take up residencies to develop their artistic work. The program they pursued involved academic presentations, art workshops, regional visits and introductions to a wide network of crafts people.

The artists were encouraged to immerse themselves in the community, and offered the opportunity to create work in the medina of Sefrou. On Friday September 26, from 3 - 6 pm, and on Saturday September 27 from 11 - 6 pm, their studios will be open to the public, who can explore what they have created.

Australian interior designer Camilla Hall says she has gained a lot from the residency, and finds Morocco fascinating. "It’s an ever changing and evolving pattern, constructed with complex diversity. This ‘geometry’ of life, here in Morocco, is subtly evolving.’

The round table discussion on Tuesday from 5 pm, on present and future artisanship in Fez, will be led by the son of a craftsman, Hamza El Fasiki. He will facilitate thoughts and perspectives from artisans and their supporters.


What: AiR Artisan Open Studios
When: Fri September 26 (3 - 6 pm) & Sat Sept 27 (11 - 6pm)
Where: Sefrou Medina

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Calf With Two Heads Born Outside of Fez

A two-headed calf born in Morocco has made world news. Images of the calf, born in the village of Sefrou, are on television and online as far away as Australia

The  polycephalic (two-headed) calf was born in a Moroccan village and has been attracting lots of attention since its arrival on 30 December, 20123

 The calf was named "Sana Saida"- Happy New Year in Arabic.Photo credit: Fadel Senna /AFP/Getty Images)

The calf was named Sana Saida, which means 'Happy New Year' in Arabic attracted scores of local visitors, but unfortunately the calf died two days later.


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Visiting Small Moroccan Towns - A Cautionary Tale

If you are travelling solo in towns you don’t know well, it’s best to keep your camera tucked away until you wish to use it – particularly during festival periods.

Last Sunday a disturbing incident happened in the usually charming town of Sefrou, located about 30 kilometres from Fez. A Fez gallery owner was assaulted and his camera stolen while attending the end of the Cherry Festival.

“I’m well travelled and usually I feel safe in daylight, especially in the mornings,” said the gallery owner. (Name withheld on request.) “However, this happened at 10.15 in the morning.”

After crossing the bridge, “I lined up for a drink and to wash my hands at a fountain inside the medina. Before I realized what was happening, a young man of about 23 grabbed my camera strap from around my neck. When I held onto it he pulled out a sizeably sharp knife and proceeded to slice my arm - quite deeply in one place. An artery shot out a considerable quantity of blood. I quickly became soaked in blood as he continued to slice away at me.”

The victim's sneakers after the assault

After the owner let go of the camera - a Canon Rebel with a 40-50 mm lens - the young man ran off into the medina with it.

The gallery owner said the thing that shocked him most about the assault was that between 40-50 other people, both men and women, stood by passively as he cried for help.

Just outside the medina he managed to find two policemen who called an ambulance. He was then taken to a hospital where he received seven stiches for the wound to his hand.

Some of the stitches needed

A Sefrou resident told The View from Fez, “Sefrou has three times its normal population during the festival. The people come from the mountains and are desperately poor. Pick pockets come to town... Nobody here would walk around with a camera on their shoulder...I don't blame the festival, but Sefrou is normally not like that....At this time of the year, we even take the pot plants off our roof.”

The gallery owner suggests that, particularly if travelling alone, “you only take your camera out when you are going to do a shoot.”

Tourist Travel in Morocco - Update

The ongoing unrest in the Middle East and parts of North Africa has caused many travellers to reassess their travel plans. Consequently we have received a large number of enquiries about the safety of travel in Morocco.

Morocco has reacted to the regional unrest in a very different way to some other countries and so the major tourist areas of Morocco (Tangier, Marrakesh, Essaouira, Fez, Rabat, Casablanca) remain as normal. The demonstrations in Morocco have been generally orderly and in some cases quite low key. One of our correspondents here in Fez had to resort to asking a taxi driver if there had been protests at the weekend. The recent reforms announced by the King  (see our story here) are expected to have a stabilising effect as they have been well received.



GENERAL ADVICE

If you are planning a trip then check your government's travel advice. It is also usual to register with your embassy or consulate. Some countries do not have facilities in Morocco and so you should find out which countries' missions will assist. For example: Australia does not have an embassy or consulate in Morocco. The Canadian Embassy in Rabat provides consular assistance to Australians in Morocco (except the issue of passports). The Australian Embassy in Paris can also assist Australians.

Australians should register their travel and contact details (click here)in order to get regular information updates. If you subscribe (click here) to this travel advice, you'll receive free email updates each time it's updated.

Moroccan jewellery

Visual artist, Jess Stephens, has launched a new blog about Moroccan jewellery.


There are several articles including the facts about Moroccan silver, Tuareg jewellery, Berber adornment including facial tattoos and hairdressing, and the Hand of Fatima.

MOROCCAN BLING


A resident of Sefrou, Jess is also making her own Moroccan contemporary jewellery. She likes to use materials from her immediate surroundings and the current collection is an accumulation of jellaba buttons (common in her home town of Sefrou), metal beads from the south of Morocco, glass beads, wooden pieces, and other random findings from around Morocco. Bringing into play crafts, techniques and materials in her new collection, Jess is fired and inspired to work alongside traditional craft-makers and local women are employed to create some of the pieces. You can see more of the range at www.jessiculture.etsy.com.