Restoration of Caravanserai in Fez

The architectural firm Kilo, founded by Tarik Oualalou and Linna Choi, has been working on the restoration of four Caravansérai in the Medina of Fès. The project was recently highlighted on the architectural website archilovers.com with some superb photographs by Lilia Sellami

The Medina of Fez constitutes an outstanding example of a medieval town created during the very first centuries of Islamisation of Morocco and presenting an original type of human settlement and traditional occupation of the land representative of Moroccan urban culture over a long historical period. The Medina of Fez bears a living witness to a flourishing city of the eastern Mediterranean having exercised considerable influence on the development of architecture, monumental arts and town-planning, notably in North Africa, Andalusia and in Sub-Saharan Africa. Fez J'did (New Fez), was inspired from the earlier town planning model of Marrakesh.

The project

The rehabilitation of the four Caravansérai (fonduq in Arabic) of the Fez Medina is a multidisciplinary endeavour that is equal parts urban design, restoration, and landscape. Focusing specifically on the city’s copper work industry, the project tackles the morphology, the physical displacement, and the environmental impact associated with this artisanal activity. Through the rehabilitation of structures dating from the 14th - 17th century as well as the construction of a new building, the project aims to restructure the contemporary practice of copper work in Fez. At the same time, architects Tarik Oualalou and Linna Choi piloted the restructuring of the Place Lalla Ydouna, the principal entry to the Fez Medina. This 25.000m² plaza housing artisanal and industrial functions will soon welcome cultural and touristic activities.

The Architects

KILO is an architecture firm based in Paris and Casablanca.

Tarik Oualalou and Linna Choi

Questioning the limited scope of the architect’s traditional role, KILO has developed its practice upon the theory that architectural strategies should be integrated into a project long ‘before’ and ‘after’ the conventional intervention of architects. Working closely with clients during site determination, programming, and the economic development of the project, the office engages in the definition of the architectural project from its very inception. KILO believes that playing an integral role in the ‘non-architectural’ aspects of a project results in a stronger design solution.

KILO has worked on a vast range of programs and scales encompassing museums, luxury hotels and resorts, social housing, sports complexes, and master plans for both existing and new cities. The office has won numerous awards, including the 2012 Young Arab Architects competition, WA Awards, and the EMAP Award for emerging architecture. KILO was recently named a finalist for the 2014 AFEX award for an outstanding project undertaken by a French architect outside France. KILO’s work has been published internationally and exhibited in both Paris and Casablanca.


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Photo Walk in the Fez Medina

If you have a camera and would like to discover the many layers of the Fez Medina, then this Sunday (January 31) join the photo walk starting from the Batha Fountain  at 10:30 AM

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Violeta Caldres - Exhibition - And New Enterprise

"Life is a constant game of love and passions that come and go, that leave their mark and that slowly shape our personality."- Violeta Caldrés

Fez artist Violeta Caldrés has an exhibition at the Craft Draft Gallery. It opened a few days ago, continues for the next 10 days and is certainly worth a visit.

The art work on display is "delicate and yet rich with feelings of both the calamities and marvels of women in modern society".

It speaks  of flesh and blood, of the hardness of life and the contradictions and passions of women

The exhibition is free and open to the general public at the Craft Draft Gallery, 17 Funduk Khrashfiyeen, Rcif, Fes Medina

For more information contact  Hamza El Fasiki 06 49 89 41 97

Would you like to travel back in time to the era of sultans and harems? You will dress up as an Arabian princess or a Berber prince and spend time in ancient riads, palaces or gardens of Fes. Experience the fairy tale of "One Thousand and One Nights" and take home memories from the photo session that will stay with you for life.

Violeta and her good friend Agata have launched a new enterprise that should be a hit with visitors to Fez. Forget taking selfies, and take home a professional "Arabian photo portrait".

Combining beautiful traditional costumes, henna decoration and amazing locations, the experience will be more than simply a photographic souvenir.

Contact Details
arabian.portraits@gmail.com
Violeta: +212 673 227 942
Agata: +212 648 793 720


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Earthquake Hits Morocco and Spain

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 degrees on the Richter scale, was recorded in the early hours of Monday off Nador and Al Hoceima in northern Morocco. The epicentre was at a depth of 10 kilometres, 62km NNE of Al Hoceima. The quake was also felt in southern Spain and in the Strait of Gibraltar and as far away as Fez

Damage in Melilla

Several sources ,including Rif24. report the death of of an  8 year old child. There are also reports of five cases of individuals who suffered fractures and some cases of fainting.

The earthquake was also felt in the Spanish occupied town of Melilla in Moroccan territory, causing electrical cuts and structural damage.

Many in Fez were woken by the earthquake, with one Medina resident describing the "rattling of windows" and the smaller jolts of aftershocks. There are no reports of injuries or structural problems.

Rubble in Nador

The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) issued a map showing the cities where the tremor was felt. According to the same source, the quake occurred on Monday at 5:03 am local time (GMT). The same source said that five aftershocks have been felt along the Strait of Gibraltar in the following hours: 5.0 at 4:30 local time, 5.3 at 4:34, 4.6 at 5:03, 5.1 at 5:54 and 5.3 at 6:10.

The epicentre of the earthquake was located near the city of Al Hoceima, which was hit in 2004 by a devastating earthquake. The earthquake was also felt in Fez, Morocco’s second most populous city after Casablanca, as well as in Taza.

This earthquake comes few days after another earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 degrees on the Richter scale, was recorded Thursday off Nador, according to a statement from the National Institute of Geophysics, an arm of the National Centre for Scientific and Technical Research (CNRST).

Morocco has had 11 earthquakes in the past 7 days, all in the region of Al Hoceïma.

There has been criticism in Morocco of the lack of coverage of the event on Moroccan TV channels.

Morocco World News reports that well known singer Asmae Lmnawar criticised the lack of coverage.

“I have a question I can’t keep for myself: Don’t Moroccan TV channels know that we need to know what happened? They dealt with this in cold way, and thank God there are other sources of information,” the Moroccan singer said on her official page.

Singer Asmae Lmnawar criticised the lack of coverage

While international media have been reporting on the disaster as it happened and kept updating their audiences with the latest available information, Moroccan media have shown no interest in updating the Moroccan public.

In the absence of a real and professional coverage of the earthquake, most Moroccans turned to Spanish media to obtain first-hand information. Spanish national television showed panicked people on the streets in coastal cities in southern Spain as well as in occupied Melilla.

Television reports showed people surveying cracked building facades, but the regional government of Andalusia, in southern Spain, issued a statement saying that there had been no reports of casualties. The tremors were felt as far inland as Seville, the capital of Andalusia.

Morocco World News was among the first news outlets in the world to report on the earthquake just few minutes after it occurred.

In February 2004, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake near Al Hoceima killed 631 people. The last major earthquake in Spain, in 2011, destroyed much of the town of Lorca, in the southeast, and killed nine people.

A seismic snapshot

The Mediterranean region is seismically active due to the northward convergence (4-10 mm/yr) of the African plate with the Eurasian plate. The movement is between 4 and 10 mm/year along the  complex plate boundary.

In the Mediterranean region there is a written record, several centuries long, documenting pre-instrumental seismicity (pre-20th century). Earthquakes have historically caused widespread damage across central and southern Greece, Cyprus, Sicily, Crete, the Nile Delta, Northern Libya, the Atlas Mountains of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. The 1903 8.2 Kythera earthquake and the 1926 7.8 Rhodes earthquakes are the largest instrumentally recorded Mediterranean earthquakes

Between 1939 and 1999 a series of devastating 7+ strike-slip earthquakes propagated westward along the North Anatolian Fault Zone, beginning with the 1939 7.8 Erzincan earthquake on the eastern end of the North Anatolian Fault system. The 1999 7.6  Izmit earthquake, located on the westward end of the fault, struck one of Turkey's most densely populated and industrialised urban areas killing, more than 17,000 people. Although seismicity rates are comparatively low along the northern margin of the African continent, large destructive earthquakes have been recorded and reported from Morocco in the western Mediterranean, to the Dead Sea in the eastern Mediterranean. The 1980 7.3 El Asnam earthquake was one of Africa's largest and most destructive earthquakes within the 20th century.

Large earthquakes throughout the Mediterranean region have also been known to produce significant and damaging tsunamis. One of the more prominent historical earthquakes within the region is the Lisbon earthquake of November 1, 1755, whose magnitude has been estimated from non-instrumental data to be about 8.0.  The earthquake is notable for both a large death toll of approximately 60,000 people and for generating a tsunami that swept up the Portuguese coast inundating coastal villages and Lisbon.

The 7.2 December 28, 1908 Messina earthquake is the deadliest documented European earthquake. The combination of severe ground shaking and a local tsunami caused an estimated 60,000 to 120,000 fatalities.

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Fes ~ The Mother of All Cities - Eberhard Hahne

FES - Die Mutter aller Städte  (The Mother of all Cities), by Eberhard Hahne, published by Terraviso-Verlag in Cologne, is a beautiful homage to the Medina of Fez, by a man who has spent almost 40 years visiting and photographing the city. While the text of the book is in German, the photographs speak a universal language. With his tribute to his favourite city in the world, Eberhard has created an unique portrait of the Medina of Fes

Fez is the most important and most mysterious of the four Moroccan royal cities. Founded 1200 years ago by the great grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, the Medina has become the largest oriental town in the world. Here, medieval life has been salvaged until the present time. The lovingly designed picture book describes, supplemented by 40 texts, the socio-cultural cooperation, the craft guilds, markets, private and spiritual life of this islamic city. The UNESCO declared Fes 1981 as a world heritage - Eberhard Hahne

Hahne has divided the book into five chapters, corresponding to the five pillars of Islam. The chapters deal with the determinants of this city: the population, the craft, commerce, privacy and the Spirituality. His pictures show the confrontation with its historical counterpart, the immutability of the subject.

Quotes from the travel literature of the past centuries underline this strange timelessness. One reads a quote from Leo Africanus from the 15th century and sees what is described in a splendid adjacent photo.

The most interesting and successful  aspects of the book are the inclusion of old historical photographs and numerous texts describing the peculiarities of everyday oriental life.

I just love to drift, getting lost in the seemingly endless maze of lanes with. Here I discover again and again to me unknown places, markets, workshops that inspire me. For a freshly brewed mint tea I like to go into the cafes around the Bab Boujloud. The small market Souk el Henna I visit on any tour of the Medina. To relax I like to go in the Jardin du Public to walk and then drink a freshly squeezed orange juice in the nearby Café Nouria - Eberhard Hahne

DETAILS

FES - Die Mutter aller Städte ISBN 978-3-00-045709-8
Price: 40 Euro plus 5 Euro postage (Europe)
Print length: 205 pages,

Links:
Eberhard Hahne's Website
YouTube - inspect the book
Amazon (German)


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FES FESTIVAL OF WORLD SACRED MUSIC 2016 - UPDATED Programme

The 22nd Fes Festival of World Sacred Music takes place in Fes from Friday May 6th to Sunday May 15th. This years theme is The Women Founders

Again this year The View From Fez,  as an official media partner, will bring you the most comprehensive coverage of the festival, with news, reviews and photographs.

 Please note this programme has changed since first published.

Opening night 

Friday 6 May. Bab Al Makina: 21h00 A: €60; B: €30

The opening night premiere is - A Sky full of Stars:
Women of myth and poetry from Scheherazade to the Queen of Sheba.

With women artists from Morocco, Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Ethiopia, India, Lebanon, Italy and Africa, with an oriental orchestra. (See more details here)


Saturday 7 May
Jnan Sbil Gardens: 16h30 €20
Sahar Mohammadi with Ingie Women’s Qanun Ensemble – Iran & Azerbaijan
Sacred Persian song

Sahar Mohammadi

Bab Al Makina: 21h00 A: €50; B: €25
Durbar: Indian Night: Premiere (See more details here)
Glory of Princes and in praise of the Gods: a dazzling musical engagement between the great musicians of India

Sunday 8 May
Jnan Sbil Gardens: 16h30 €20
Christine Salem – Reunion

Christine Salem

Bab Al Makina: 21h00 A: €50; B: €25
World Divas
First part: Hindi Zahra – France & Morocco
Second part: Oumou Sangaré – Mali

Oumou Sangaré

Monday 9 May
Jnan Sbil Gardens: 16h30 €15
Officina Zoé – Italy
Women’s songs of love, work and healing with Maria Mazzotta (voice) and Maristella Martella (dance)

Maristella Martella 

NIGHT IN THE MEDINA I: EVENING RAGAS
Dar Adiyel: 18h00 €20
Rageshri Das
Khyal Song from Kolkata, India

Programme Change! Both concerts scheduled for the Sidi Mohamed Ben Youssef Cultural Complex will now take place at the Prefecture Hall opposite the Batha Museum (see map ref blue 1).
19h00: Shashank Subramaniam and Rakesh Chaurasia
Masters of the Bansuri flute from Chennai and Mumbai, India

20h30: Ustad Irshad Khan – Toronto, Canada
Sitar and surbahar

The price is 20 Euros per person, whether you stay for one concert or both. This makes no difference if you have a pass.

Ustad Irshad Khan

Dar Adiyel: 20h30 €20
Rageshri Das
Ghazal song from Kolkata, India

Prefecture Hall, Batha: 22h30 €20
The King of Ghosts: Premiere – India & Morocco
Cinema/Concert : composed by Soumik Datta, Johannes Berauer and Cormac Byrne for the film Goopy Gayen Bagha Bayen by Satyajit Ray (1969)

EXTRA CONCERT: May 9 - Jiangsu Women's National Orchestra from China will perform at 21h00 at Bab Al Makina. This concert is free of charge.

Tuesday 10 May
Jnan Sbil Gardens: 16h30 €15
Hawniyaz: inspired by Kurdish, Persian and Azeri traditions
With Aynur (song), Kayhan Kalhor (kamantche), Salman Gambarov (piano) and Cemîl Ǫoçgirî (multi-instrumentalist)

NIGHT IN THE MEDINA II
Dar Adiyel: 20h00 €20
Yulduz Turdieva: Shash-maqâm from Bukhara, Uzbekistan

Yulduz Turdieva

Sidi Mohamed Ben Youssef Cultural Complex: 23h00 €20
Parvathy Baul and Mehdi Nassouli – India and Morocco
Mystical Poetry of Nomads, from Bauls to Gnawas

Wednesday 11 May
NIGHT IN THE MEDINA III
Sidi Mohamed Ben Youssef Cultural Complex: 20h00 €20
Lamar: Arab song from Palestine

Prefecture Hall, Batha: 21h30 €20
Farida Muhammad Ali – Iraq
Maqâm

Farida Muhammad Ali 

Dar Adiyel: 23h00 €20
Ariana Vafadari – Iran & France
Gathas: Zoroastrian song

Thursday May 12
Jnan Sbil Gardens: 16h30 €15
Lalla Rquia Ouhmad and the Women’s Ensemble – Morocco
Sacred Amazigh Song from Tiznit

Riad Dar Bensouda, Qettanine: 18h00 €20
Shaikh Hassan Dyck and Muhabbat Caravan
Meditation with Sufi flavours

Shaikh Hassan Dyck

Bab Al Makina: 21h00 A: €50; B: €25
Istanbul – Fes: Premiere – Turkey & Morocco
Mevlevi whirling dervishes with the Mohammed Briouel Andalous Orchestra

Mevlevi whirling dervishes

Friday 13 May
Jnan Sbil Gardens: 16h30 €20
Virginia Rodrigues – Brazil
Heavenly voice

Bab Al Makina: 21h00 A: €50; B: €25
Ahlam from the United Arab Emirates.

Saturday 14 May
Jnan Sbil Gardens: 16h30 €20
Yom – France
Silence of the Exodus
With Yom (composition, clarinet), Farid D (cello), Claude Tchamitchian (double bass) and Bijan Chemirani (zarb, daf and bendir)

Bab Al Makina: 21h00 A: €60; B: €30
Samira Saïd – Morocco
Star of Moroccan Song

Sunday 15 May
Programme Change! The Tribute to Oum Keltoum has moved to Sunday 15 May, extending the Festival by one day.

OTHER EVENTS 

Sufi Nights at 23h00 are free of charge and are held in the garden of Dar Tazi, the Festival headquarters. See programme HERE

The Fes Forum is held on the first five mornings of the festival (ie Saturday to Wednesday); venue to be announced. Most of the proceedings are in French, but there is simultaneous translation into English and Arabic. You may ask questions in English as most of the panel members speak it. See details HERE

Friday 6 May
Discover the Fountains of Fes - Starting point to be confirmed: 16h00
With smartphone app, accompanied by music by Susie Ibarra and local artists, this discovery of the Fes fountains will conclude with a live concert at the Karaouine Library.

Children Today, Musicians Tomorrow - Venue to be confirmed: 16h00
Screening of the film Chota Divana, the little princes of Rajasthan – India, with a concert performed
by children from Fes

Chota Divana

The Mamas – giant African puppets will perform in the Medina throughout the Festival

Jnan Sbil Gardens: Taragalte Cultural Caravan for Peace
The Association Zaila’s nomad-style tent in the Jnan Sbil Gardens will feature the culture and music of the Moroccan Sahara.

Things you need to know ! 

Festival Venues: This year, afternoon concerts are to be held in the Jnan Sbil Gardens.
Note that there is no afternoon concert on Wednesday, which makes this a good time to go on a day trip out of Fez.

Big evening concerts are held at Bab al Makina, the open-air parade ground in front of the Royal Palace.

Free concerts are held each evening at Boujloud Square, close to Bab Boujloud. See details here
.
Nights in the Medina concerts (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) are held in smaller venues including the music conservatory Dar Adiyel, Sidi Mohamed Ben Youssef Cultural Complex,, the Prefecture Hall in Batha opposite the Batha Museum, and Riad Dar Bensouda.

Seating and Ticketing

Seats are not reserved. Get to the venue in plenty time if you want a good seat.
Seats are raked at Bab al Makina; elsewhere they are on the flat. There are no chairs at the Nights in the Medina or Sufi Nights venues, but carpets on the floor.

At Bab al Makina, you can buy A or B seats. A seats are located closer to the stage; B seats towards the back of the auditorium. If you buy a pass, you automatically have A seats. There are side screens at Bab al Makina, one on each side of the stage.As an indication, a pass to all events costs 305 Euros and automatically includes A seats for concerts at Bab al Makina. You can buy tickets on this site closer to the time. Tickets can be delivered to your guesthouse if you are staying in the medina; other arrangements will be made if you are staying elsewhere.

Tips
Weather can be variable: it can rain, be very cold and windy at Bab al Makina, or stiflingly hot. It’s best to bring layers, something waterproof, a sunhat and a fan. See extended weather forecast HERE
Seats are not particularly comfortable. If necessary, bring a cushion.
Consider taking a trip or arranging an activity on Wednesday as there is no afternoon concert.
Reserve your accommodation in good time as guesthouses closest to festival venues fill up quickly. Getting to the venues is always on foot.
Many restaurants serve dinner early and/or later so that you can attend evening concerts.

Fes Map

Translations and map - Thanks to Helen Ranger at Fes Riads

The View From Fez is a Fes Festival official Media Partner

See our Fes Festival previews:
Opening Night Preview
Homage to India Preview
Divas of the World Preview
Nights in the Medina 1 Preview
Nights in the Medina 2 Preview
Nights in the Medina 3 Preview
Istanbul to Fez Preview
Tribute to Oum Keltoum Preview
Samira Saïd Preview
Forum Sessions Preview

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The Russians Are Coming -Добро пожаловать!

Добро пожаловать в Марокко русские!!

In the last month more than 10,000 Russians visited The View From Fez looking for information about Morocco. Over the last few years Russian visitors to the site have reached 45,000. This upsurge in interest has not yet translated into large numbers of Russian tourists in the country, but tourism operators say they expect many more Russians to start arriving in the next few months

Abderrafie Zouiten, the Director General of the Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT) was in Moscow this week and says that Morocco is aiming to attract 200,000 Russian tourists a year. That is an ambitious goal as the unofficial figures available for 2013/2014, suggest that some 50,000 Russian tourists visited the Kingdom. Moscow and St Petersburg are the prime targets for Morocco's advertising campaigns.

Abderrafie Zouiten

While there has always been a steady stream of Russians visiting the country, the increased interest over the last year is probably due to Morocco's stability and safe security environment, as compared to other North African and Middle Eastern destinations. Unrest in Tunisia, Turkey and Egypt has seen many Russians cancelling trips to the region.

Outside of the North African region Russian tourists have traditionally favoured Spain, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.

Airline connections between Morocco and Russia have improved with Royal Air Morocco (RAM) offering direct flights between Moscow, Casablanca and Agadir, and plans to establish other direct flights between Saint Petersburg, Agadir and Marrakech. Although Fez has a new international terminal, it seems to have been neglected when it comes to connections to Russia.

According to Abderrafie Zouiten, the ONMT has devised an ambitious strategy to attract more Russian tourists. The organisation will host representatives of more than 30 Russian media outlets who have been invited to visit Morocco in February. They will be shown the cities of Agadir, Marrakesh and Casablanca. Once again, Fez is not mentioned. However Zouiten said that the Office is preparing to host 400 Russian travel agencies in April to promote the destination of Morocco.

Perhaps it's time for a Russian language school in Fez!

Добро пожаловать!

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The World Mourns the Death of Leila Alaoui

Tributes have poured in from around the world for distinguished French-Moroccan photographer, Leila Alaoui, who become the victim of the terror attack, which struck the heart of Burkina Faso’s capital last week

Morocco’s MAP news agency reported that Leila Alaoui, who was severely wounded by jihadi gunman in Ouagadougou last Friday, died from her injuries late on Monday. The French culture minister, Fleur Pellerin, later confirmed the news on Twitter.

The 33-year-old’s death raised the toll to 30, after the attack on Ouagadougou’s Splendid hotel and the nearby Cappuccino café.  Alaoui and her driver Mahamadi Ouédraogo were sitting in a parked car when they were shot multiple times and Ouédraogo, a Burkina Faso national, died at the scene. The al-Qaida-linked group Aqim claimed responsibility.

Mahamadi Ouédraogo

The luxury hotel and its surrounding areas are popular with expats and foreign visitors and by Saturday morning 18 nationalities were counted among the dead.

Alaoui, whose work had featured in the New York Times and Vogue, was in Burkina Faso on assignment for Amnesty International for a women’s rights photography project - My Body My Rights campaign. The group released two of the pictures she was working on on Wednesday.

Martine Kabore, photographed by Leila Alaoui, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
 as part of the My Body My Rights campaign. Photograph: Amnesty International

Malika ‘La Slammeuse’ photographed by Leila Alaoui in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso,
 as part of the My Body My Rights campaign. Photograph: Leila Alaoui

Amnesty said they were devastated, describing Alaoui as a talented photographer. They said that their “absolute priority is to ensure the best possible support for Mahamadi and Leila’s families”.

Yves Boukari Traoré, the director of Amnesty in Burkina Faso, said: “Leila was an extraordinary young woman. We wanted to work with her because of her talent, and her passion for helping women, girls and marginalised people tell their own stories. “Mahamadi was a dedicated, helpful and caring colleague. His death is a huge loss to us all,” he added.

Tributes continue to flow in from friends, colleagues and admirers of Alaoui's photography.

The writer, Tahar Ben Jelloun, said on his blog that Alaoui was “a passionate artist who knew how to detect reality behind appearances, how to show the splendour of a body behind the veil of prejudice”

Image from Leila's Les Marocains series

 RIP  Leila Alaoui

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