CASABLANCA
knapkins
hung out, Casablanca
2005
73 x 54 cm
acrylic on canvas
In Islamic
culture and tradition, Friday is the holy day. After the
prayers in the mosque, families meet and eat together. They
usually cook
couscous, a very
elaborate and succulent dish, made with steamed wheat
semolina and served with all kinds of vegetables, spices
and lamb.
I saw this on a trip to Casablanca. In the house
where we were staying as guests, the party was even bigger.
With their desire to share, they gave us the best places,
low tables on multicolored carpets. At the beginning and
end of each meal, a member of the family goes round with a
jar of water and soap to wash everyone’s hands. Then a
large round earthenware tray is placed on a low table with
the
couscous, and after
saying ‘Besmellah’ everyone helps themselves with their
hands. Each guest was given a napkin, white with delicate
blue embroidery. The meal goes on with other dishes, but
especially with tea and fresh mint, and a long
conversation.
Once it has finished, the utensils are
washed, as are the napkins, which are then hung out in the
street, next to the front door. A shaded outer patio, but
under a clear bright blue sky where the neighbors came to
stare at the guests.
These white napkins, edged with blue
embroidery, against the white wall, were perhaps a humble
sign of the feast, but if we regard them with sensitive
eyes and a simple look, we can discover an immense wealth
there.
Spice
stall, Casablanca
2005
160 x 114 cm
acrylic on canvas
In Morocco, like
other parts of North Africa, there are fascinating open-air
markets that provoke an authentic delight for the sense of
anyone who enters. A mixture of smells, the shouts of the
spice and vegetable sellers, the freshly-caught fish,
poultry, piles of kitchen utensils, story tellers and the
prayers of the blind beggars... The sunbeams that come
through the holes and folds of the canopies mark intense
contrasts on the ground, the walls, the stalls, the exotic
clothes, the dust in the air... and the looks, gestures
friendly invitations and incomprehensible words, the
children who follow you, the fabrics, pottery, trinkets,
unknown fruits and spices, all produce an immense mixture
of colors and indescribable emotions. What have always
caught my attention most are the stalls selling herbs and
spices, some well known and other unknown, but always with
that fascinating mixture of colors and smells. Under the
canvas canopies, there are heaps of sacks of red pepper,
black peppercorns, curcuma, cumin, coriander, cinnamon,
saffron, lavender, cloves, juniper berries, bay, rose
petals and a little black seed that they call
Alhabba assawda (otherwise known
as black cumin seed)
which is
guaranteed to cure everything... There are also big bunches
of fresh mint and a very bitter plant called
shiba that we call
absinthe, which they also mix with tea, especially in
winter. On old planks, rusty metal scales, long wooden
spoons and school exercise books written in Arab whose
sheets are used to wrap up the spices the people buy. The
colors we find in the scene are very varied and saturated,
but take on an enormous richness of shades as a result of
the contrast between shadow and sunlight. A spectacle that
captivates the senses and lifts your spirits.
Gnawa
musician, Casablanca
2006
162 x 114 cm
acrylic on canvas
I was invited to
a wedding in Casablanca in August 2005. We stayed with the
Bernich family, the bride’s mother and brothers for a week.
This allowed us to share in a fascinating traditional
experience. The day before the celebration we went to find
presents for the bride at a relatives’ home. There, in the
street, a crowd gathered to sing tradictional songs,
especially the women and children repeated a chant that
went:
Sla o Salam ala rosallah
La jah illa jha sidna Mohamed
Allah maak i jah el alí
Then, they let
out a long scream called
zarguda, moving their
tongues from one side of their mouths to the
other.
Then the
musician arrived. They had a certain air of the Gnawa,
slaves who, in the Middle Ages were taken from sub-saharan
Africa to the kingdoms of Morocco. These black musicians
performed ritual songs and dances associated with the
mystical Islamic tradition and African chamanism. They were
accompanied by percussion instruments, such as the
tbel, a large drum;
the
krakebs, a kind of
metal castanet, and very long trumpets, which are played
non-stop to announce good news to the whole village. Their
frentic songs, with a catchy rhythmic richness, give the
family and guests good luck and protection against evil.
The painting captures the moments of waiting for the brides
gifts to appear, when the musicians rest and prepare for a
long celebration. Once again, the colors of all the
elements in the scene fascinate: the façade of the house,
the shadows, the musician’s clothes, the instruments... and
a calm wait where time doesn’t.