call for artist caravane ouadane 2021 /  by Carlos Perez Marin

 

Candidates who want to participate in the first edition of Caravane Ouadane, which will take place from November the 6th to the 21st 2021, must send an email to caravaneouadane@gmail.com with the following information:

1 a link (website, Facebook page, Instagram, pdf, etc.) or a few representative images of your work.

2 a short text (not an artistic project) explaining your interest in this meeting, as well as the subjects on which your research will focus (maximum 150 words).

To avoid misunderstandings:

⥤ if you do not receive a receipt after sending your email to caravaneouadane@gmail.com it means we have not received it and you should send it again.

⥤ the deadline for sending the information will be January the 10th at midnight (Mauritanian time). On January the 31rd 2021 you will receive an email to let you know if you have been selected or not.

⥤ Caravane Ouadane is a laboratory for contemporary creation and it gives the opportunity to conduct workshops with the inhabitants of the city, to produce a work with materials found on the site or to do research on subjects related to the culture of the desert. Be careful, it is not a question of making an exhibition but of sharing thoughts, experiences, concerns ... around culture in places as special as Ouadane and its surroundings.

⥤ the organisation will host and feed the artists at inhabitant homes, but it will not pay the transport costs to Ouadane or the production of the works, nor give pocket money.

⥤ the organisation reserves all rights to publish photos, videos and sound recordings taken during the artists' activities during the event.

If you ever have any question, you can contact us by email or Facebook. You will find more information about the event in the previous post.

Caravane Ouadane is organised by Auberge Vasque chez Zaida, Teranim pour les Arts Populaires, Zeinart Concept, Marsad Drâa and Caravane Tighmert, with the support (for now) of Le Sothiou and the Network of Alliances Française de la Mauritanie.

caravane ouadane 2021 /  by Carlos Perez Marin

We are thrilled to announce the first edition of Caravane Ouadane in resonance with Caravane Tighmert. We organise it with Auberge Vasque chez Zaida, Zeinart, Teranim pour les Arts Populaires, Marsad Drâa and Caravane Tighmert.

More information: www.facebook.com/caravaneouadane

 

Introduction

Throughout centuries, the regions of Adrar in Mauritania and Wadi Noun in Morocco have followed a history, sometimes common, sometimes parallel, thanks to the tribes who moved and / or lived in the two territories or through the caravans which crossed the Sahara and which lasted until the end of the eighties. Despite the lack of more in-depth archaeological studies, one could highlight, among the most significant events, the expansion of the Almoravid dynasty and the arrival of the Banu Ma'qil tribes. So today, there is a shared heritage, tangible and intangible, as seen in the fortifications, palm groves and culture (with its different expressions). This heritage is the witness of the civilisations which on several occasions have been at the scientific, spiritual and cultural forefront of the world. Unfortunately today, the culture associated with the desert is seen as folklore and it is not given the importance it deserves, especially when it comes to dealing with the contemporaneity of the inhabitants of these regions. For this reason we are going to organise the first edition of Caravane Ouadane in resonance with Caravane Tighmert which has been taking place since 2015 in the oasis of Tighmert (Guelmim, Morocco), the former capital of Noul Lamta.

Aims

Cultural development in remote regions is one of the major challenges of our societies. The lack of artistic education, the absence of contemporary culture and the difficulties in showcasing the tangible and intangible heritage of historic places can cause inequalities that are difficult to resolve. With this perspective, we offer a series of activities with several purposes.

Contemporary culture and local population: We tend to think that contemporary culture is accessible and understandable only to a social class classified as elitist, yet if it does not concern the entire population it is because necessary instruments to bring it closer to society do not exist. For this reason, workshops will be organised so that the inhabitants of Ouadane (children, young people and women) and artists can work together. On the one hand, the first will learn artistic techniques and methodologies of representation according to the participating artists (photography, video, drawing, art installation, architecture, music, dance ...), on the other hand, seconds will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the history and culture of the city (classified as a world heritage site) hand in hand with the inhabitants.

Artistic research: the selected artists, in particular Mauritanians and Moroccans but also those from other countries, will work on aspects related to the culture, history or even daily life of Ouadane and its surroundings, because the nomadic population will also be concerned. These works will not have as their goal an exhibition at the end of the stay, it is rather a matter of promoting artistic research and the sharing of experiences as the basis of contemporary creation in a specific place, that of Ouadane and Adrar.

Contemporary revision of the common heritage: Ouadane and Tighmert still retain traces of a shared past; fortifications built by the Almoravids, oasis spaces, dances, music, poems... We invite artists to work on these subjects to establish contemporary relationships between the northern and southern shores of the Sahara desert and more specifically between Adrar and Noul Lamta.

Organisation

Participating artists: In total there will be 10, some will be invited directly as they are already working on aspects of desert and oasis regions, others will be selected after a call for applications we will publish in November 2020.

Fields of research: visual arts and performing arts (theatre, dance and music).

Dates: from the 6th to the 21st November 2021.

Partners: Le Sothiou.

Organisers: Caravane Ouadane is an initiative of Zeinart, Auberge Vasque, Teranim pour les Arts Populaires, Marsad Drâa and Caravane Tighmert.

Financing: we will not pay the travel expenses to Ouadane, we will only offer the stay with food. Launching the information immediately will allow artists to seek their own mobility grants or the funding of personal artistic projects.

epilogues caravane tighmert 2015-2018 /  by Carlos Perez Marin

En février 2020, Le 18 Marrakech a produit l’exposition À l’Épreuve du Tamis dont une partie a été dédiée à Caravane Tighmert (le projet que nous avons initié en 2015 avec Ahmed Dabah et Bouchra Boudali). La commissaire de l’exposition, Fatima-Zahra Lakrissa , a voulu montrer une sélection des interviews que j’avais réalisé aux artistes pendant les 4 premières éditions. Bien si elle a utilisé plutôt l’enregistrement d’audio, nous avons reproduit les mêmes extraits mais à partir des vidéos. 

caravanes sahariennes et nomadisme /  by Carlos Perez Marin

Présentation dans le cadre de l’Atelier Madrasa Tamnougalt (organisé par Kasbah des Caïds, Labina et Marsad Drâa) qui a eu lieu du 2 au 12 février à Tamnougalt, Zagora (Maroc). On a essayé d’expliquer l’importance des caravanes sahariennes et des nomades à l’heure de comprende les territoires et le patrimoine matériel et immatériel du sud du Maroc.

Les informations mentionnées:

Project Qafila

Sahara desert and cinema (and me)

Dimensions of a desert

forum 1-54 contemporary african art fair /  by Carlos Perez Marin

Participation in the 1-54 Forum: Enacting Agencies, in the framework of the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair that took place in Marrakech, in February 2020, where I explained how we work with artists and inhabitants in the oasis of Tighmert (Guelmim, Morocco) during Caravane Tighmert.

Some of my comments come from a reflection I made in this text (click on the image):

The round table with all the interventions can be heard here:

The 1-54 Forum has been curated by The Showroom London

 

à l'épreuve du tamis /  by Carlos Perez Marin

Next Thursday, the 20th February, Le 18 Marrakech presents a collective exhibition curated by Fatima-Zahra Lakrissa, À l’épreuve du tamis, with artists Mohamed Arejdal, Nassim Azarzar, Ihsane Boudrig M’barek Bouhchichi, Khadija El Abyad, Abdeljalil Saouli and the projects Caravane Tighmert and Festival International d’Art Indigène.

Graphic design: Nassim Azarzar

Text: Fatima-Zahra Lakrissa

As a part of Caravane Tighmert, there will be audio interviews, pictures, textes and drawings from the researches developed during 10 years in the desert that have been used by artists for their contemporary creations. This kind of archive is online through the following websites:

www.marsaddraa.com

www.caravanetighmert.com

www.projectqafila.com

www.carlosperezmarin.com

This is a parallel project of the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair that will take place in Marrakech (20-23 February).

Obûr (عبور): the origin /  by Carlos Perez Marin

Long time ago, I told myself to accept all the invitations to give a talk or to participate in roud-tables, it did not matter if the organisers where public or private institutions, in the framework of big or small events, because you never know who could be among the audience. I think I have rejected just a few of them during the last ten years and I did it because I had another engagements at the same time, not because I did not consider them interesting.

In January 2008 (the 21st), Younès Rahmoun asked me to come to Tetouan, to share everything I was “discovering” during my stays in Lyon (and surroundings) and Madrid, related to contemporary culture (architecture, art, music, theatre, dance, cinema…). It was not easy to link all these disciplines and to transmit the need of being curious when talking about contemporary creation.

To be frank, I thought it was going to be a talk for all the INBA students, but finally it was just for 8 people, those from Younès’ atelier. It did not matter, I did my best. At the end, while almost all the students left quickly the classroom, one of them stayed and once I finished picking up my stuff, he came to talk to me, he wanted to show me his last project, related to “cartography”. It was an interesting project and later, during the lunch, Younès confirmed me it was one of the best students he never had.

Fine-Arts National Institut in Tetouan (INBA). January 2008

Some years later, in January 2010, Younès wrote me an email, he wanted to know if I still was in Ceuta or if I already came back to Lyon, because a young artist wanted to meet me in Tetouan, the one that two years earlier, when he was still a student, showed me his work after my talk at INBA. I agreed to meet both of them in Tetouan because I was going the stay the whole month in Ceuta.

We meet in a coffee and the young artist explained that he had a project, or rather a dream, to built an art school in a small oasis, near his city, Guelmim. For that, he needed an architect and he only knew one, besides with some sensibility towards contemporary art. I listened to him carefully but I had no idea where Guelmim was, so he told me it was a city in the south, considered the gate of the Sahara desert… I heard the word desert and my mind became overexcited. During years, I wanted to visit the south of Morocco, I already knew the north, and thanks to the French learnt in Lyon, also the center. If I never had come to the desert, it was because the only opportunity I had had, was with a travel agency, with ten or twenty AWD cars and I had promised myself to discovered the south with local people, and this young artist was just proposing me to come with him to the desert. He continued to talk and talk about his region, maybe trying to convince me to come to a such a far place, without knowing that I was just thinking about possible dates while he was talking and talking… At a moment, I interrupted him:

Listen to me Mohamed, when can we go to Guelmim, next week?

He could not believe I really wanted to come and moreover to do it so quickly. We finally agreed to come in two weeks. Younès have been listening the whole conversation and he just said something at the end:

Can I come with you?

In January the 25th, I left Ceuta (with the car of my brother because the Volvo was in Lyon), I picked up Younès in Tetouan and we head to the SOUTH, to Guelmim and Tighmert, to meet MOHAMED AREJDAL.

You will find on this album, the pictures we took during 6 days.

Watching the pictures, you realise the imaginary I had in mind concerning the desert, for example the desire of walking on the dunes (even if it was just the sand of a beach). But there were also amazing discovering, the oasis of Tighmert, the Nomad Memory Museum, the rammed earth architecture… and overall Arejdal family and Ahmed Dabah’s family.

10 years later, when I think about everything that has happened since that trip, I can say that I could never imagined everything I have learnt, all the places I have discovered, all the people I have met and all the friends I have made (in Tighmert, Zagora, Tissardmine, Marrakech...) and all the projets I have developed with friends (Marsad Drâa, Caravane Tighmert, Project Qafila, Sakhra). What I like most about not having a scheduled life, is to do not know what it will come next and to do not be afraid of it, keeping the capacity of adapting yourself to new circumstances, regardless the time, the efforts, the energy and the studies needed.

I also compare those pictures from 2010 with the ones I took during my last trip to the desert and I really feel there are two completely persons behind the cameras.

Now, we are in 2020, and even if I’m not used to celebrate anniversaries, I proposed Younès to do the same trip Ceuta-Tetuan-Tighmert, as a way to celebrate our friendship, sharing it with some friends that are an important part of this personal, why not intimal journal I initiated in 2010 without being conscient.

Talking to Mohamed Arejdal, he told us it was going to be a pity just to redo the same route we did in 2010, and that we should go further, physically and psychically, so he proposed to go to Mauritania and to cross the Sahara desert.

In some days, I will leave from Ceuta and I will pick up some friends on the way to the south of the south. We will be finally only three (Younès, Ahmed and myself) and we have some purpose but we are opened to what this trip will offer us. It will be important to cross the Sahara, I would rather prefer to do it by walk, but it is not possible right now, so we will do it by car, this time with the Volvo, to take a flight to Mauritania it was not an option, we have to cross by land.

We will try to visit the Adrar region, specially Chinguetti and Ouadane, it will be great because this region is the origin of the Almoravid dynasty, and I could learn and better understand the fortifications they built in Morocco, along the caravan routes.

Of course the caravans will be another subject to research. Chinguetti and Ouadane were Saharan ports linked to Tighmert, Tammedoulte and M’hamid El Ghizlane.

In summary, this trip will be about friendship and about historical research but we cannot forget the meetings we will have, taking into consideration that people from the Azouafit tribe (Ahmed’s tribe) are waiting for us.

I really don’t know what will come after this trip, just let’s try to keep the same opened mind I had in 2010 and then let's see what the future brings us.