jornadas sobre la economía de ceuta. pgou

El próximo jueves 30, a las 19h, hablaremos del Plan General de Ordenación Urbana de Ceuta en la Biblioteca Publica de Ceuta, dentro de las "Jornadas sobre la economía de Ceuta, presente y futuro" organizadas por el Instituto De Estudios Ceutíes.

Intentaremos hacer pedagogía sobre la importancia de este documento para el futuro de Ceuta y de cómo una no-revisión o un planeamiento mediocre pueden llevar a la decadencia y a la ruina a toda una ciudad (Gobierno de Ceuta).

La mesa redonda podrá seguirse en directo a través del perfil de Facebook de la Biblioteca Publica de Ceuta

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crossings _ round table on beyond qafila thania

With researcher Pau Cata, architect Carlos Perez Marin and artists Amado Alfadni, Heidi Vogels and M'barek Bouhchichi (Beyond Qafila Thania project), moderated by Francesca Masoero

This round table, co-organised by Le 18, CeRCCa and Marsad Drâa as part of the Kibrit programme, aims at crossing perspectives and experiences between Qanat and Beyond Qafila Thania, a research project focused on the space of the desert and a caravan residency initiative in southern Morocco, initiated by Platform HARAKAT.

The round table took place at Le 18, in the framework of Qanat, one of the Kibrit’s projects. 

sidi bou othmane

Abandoned water tank and a dam built during the Almohad dynasty (12th century) in Sidi Bou Othmane, near Marrakech. Amazing space and incredible construction made in rammed earth. 





zawya sidi salah

The only place we could visit in the Ktaoua palm grove (it was a matter of time), was the zawya of Sidi Saleh, maybe the one which is best preserved and most populated.



amezrou

I really wanted my friends to visit the ksar of Amezrou in Zagora, the first I studied with my students of the Architecture School of Tetouan in 2013. We also had the chance to meet Antoine Bouillon, a French sociologist living near the ksar, thanks to whom I have learnt a lot of things related to the history of the region. We observed the restauration works (finally), in clouding the synagogue.



tinzouline

Another ksar, that gives the name to one of the 6 palm groves of the Drâa valley, is Tinzouline, which has a kasbah with a fantastic courtyard, opposing the idea of rammed earth construction to heaviness.



oulad othmane and tinmasla

The second stay was in Oulad Othmane Kasbah, another imposant place, where we had the occasion of talking to the owner, Abdel Majid, who told us the story of his family, the old cadi of the kasbah, with some interesting revelations about the slaves, the main research topic of Amado Alfadni.



tinmasla

The ksar of Tinmasla (with the zawya of the same name) is among the 5 most important spiritual centres in Zagora. This fact has a reflection in the architecture, because the number of marabouts and also the mosque with its minaret. There were only 5 minarets in the valley, today, only three left...

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tamnougalt

The first stop of our study trip (in the framework of Beyond Qafila Thania and Qanat, organised by Marsad Drâa+CeRCCa+Le 18), was Tamnougalt, a ksar with a kasbah used by one of the most important caids of the region and a place where caravans payed taxes. Besides the Museum of Caid's Kasbah is quite impressive and an excellent place to stay as the researches and artists (Amado Alfadni, Pau Cara, Francesca Masoero, Leire Vergara and Heidi Vogels) could experience.

We also had the opportunity of visiting another ksar, Takatarte.

Tamnougalt

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Takatarte

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qanat

Le 18 Marrakech scheduled a very interesting program related to WATER (in the framework of Kibrit). As we shared some topics and some artists participated also in Beyond Qafila Thania, we decided (with Platform Harakat) to match our agendas in order to visit the Drâa valley in Zagora (Morocco) and discover its heritage concerning water, architecture and caravans.

There was also a round table with artists and researches on the experience during Beyond Qafila Thania project.

beyond qafila thania

We are thrilled to announce our new research: BEYOND QAFILA THANIA
 

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Beyond Qafila Thania brings together researchers from Sudan, Morocco, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands ( Amado Alfadni, Olì Bonzanigo, M'barek Bouhchichi, Pau Cata, Laila Hida, Francesca Masoero, Carlos Perez Marin, Leire Vergara and Heidi Vogels) researching in architecture, sociology and the visual arts actively approaching the cultural, social and geopolitical space of the Sahara desert, tracing back the stories of the old caravans, learning about its influence in current day cultures and societies.

Beyond Qafila Thania facilitates an inspiring frame to research on topics such as contemporary nomad culture and architecture, current immigration routes, history of slave trade and knowledge exchange and mobility within the Mediterranean, Sahel and West Africa.

Beyond Qafila Thania will take place from the 22nd October to the 24th November in the provinces of Zagora, Tata and Guelmim in Morocco. It develops through different stages, including research and archiving, site visits, interviews, public events, a nomadic residency in the desert, round tables and a final exhibition.

Beyond Qafila Thania is a project develop by CeRCCa and Marsad Drâa through Platform Harakat, Project QAFILA and Qanat in the framework of Kibrit.
 

culture strategy for guelmim oases

Last week we handed a proposal over to authorities on contemporary culture in the oasis of Guelmim (made through Marsad Drâa and Caravane Tighmert). A program that authorities asked us at a meeting last July . It will take a few more weeks to know if they accept the challenge of bringing contemporary culture to those little paradises that are still the oases.

A big thank you to all the artists for trusting us and for their engagement in this adventure.

This culture strategy has four aims:
- to provide access to multidisciplinary artistic training for the oasis population.
- to develop a cultural network in the province (which will allow a better social cohesion).
- to encourage contemporary creation, based on oasis cultures.
- to promote contemporary oasis cultures at regional, national and international levels.

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imitation and tradition in contemporary art in morocco

In July, I participated in the round table organised by Youmein Creative Media Festival that took place at the American Legation in Tangier. In this edition, the festival proposed visual and performing artists to think about Imitation and Tradition in contemporary art in Morocco (these two terms use the same word in Arabic, "taqlid" in singular is imitation and in plural, "taqalid", traditions). 

Thanks to the organisation for this opportunity.

dimensions of a desert

In 2010 I came to the desert for the first time. 7 years laters my researches brought me from architectural habitats to non architectural habitats. This a a description of my journey. (Click on the image). 

planet sand and marsad drâa: the story behind

In 2014 we participated in the filming of Planet Sand, a documentary series on desertification directed by Thierry Berrod and produced by Mona Lisa Production, ARTE France, HEILONGJIANG TV, UNIVERSCIENCE, CNRS images and IRD. The series has been aired in France (Arte TV) in May and in Spain (La 2 and www.rtve.es) in June, but it will shown in 100 channels all over the world.

Some people wanted to know how we contacted the filmmaker and how we convinced him to show our projects on this documentary series, in fact, we did nothing, he just contacted us...

This is the story behind our participation in Planet Sand (click on the image).

stratégie culturel oasis guelmim

Pendant la 3ème édition de Caravane Tighmert en juillet denier, nous avons eu une réunion avec les autorités de la province de Guelmim. Ils ont exprimé leur besoin de développer des activités culturelles dans la province, spécialement dans les oasis car d'après eux, il n'y a pas vraiment une politique culturale, ni à Guelmim en particulier, ni au Maroc en général. Bien s'il y a des concerts en été dans toutes les villes, il s'agit, dans la plupart des cas, du divertissement et non pas de la promotion et de la création culturelle (au-delà de la musique). Pour ces raisons ils nous ont demandé de collaborer avec eux pour améliorer l’état de la culture dans la province, puisque selon eux, Tighmert est devenu la référence culturelle de Guelmim, les seuls à mener des activités de formation, de promotion et de création artistiques multidisciplinaires, traditionnelles et contemporaines, grâce notamment à Caravane Tighmert, sans oublier le Festival des Esclaves, les pionniers des festivals dans l’oasis. 

Avec Marsad Drâa nous travaillons dans une stratégie culturelle pour les oasis de Guelmim et nous nous posons pas mal de questions avant commencer à proposer des actions:

Plus d'information: ici

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