Lalla Lydia

The Arab Spring comes to Meknes

2011-11-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

Direct from the Occupy Butcher Street movement in Meknes, Morocco:

Felines demonstrating for their right to fair and equitable distribution of viande hachée.

This is the 99 percent.

Kayaking in Venice

2011-10-09T23:10:00.000-07:00

Enjoy a beautifully-written article in the Financial Times exploring the pleasures of kayaking Venice's waterways.

Courtesy ECV-Ontheroad on Flickr
"This is hidden Venice, a world away from the visiting hordes, footpaths and overpriced gelato: the true Serenissima – and all it takes to uncover it are a few strokes on the canal less travelled."

Kayaks can reach the narrow, low tunnels that are too inaccessible for even gondolas.

Courtesy La Citta Vita on Flickr

This looks like a novel and exciting way to visit one of the world's most popular cities. Sign me up!

"...we slip under tiny bridges, ducking to avoid decorative lions’ heads, and shimmy west into the rio (tiny canals) of Castello. Each stroke pulls us away from the tourists, deeper into daily Venetian life. At water level, it is tiny details that catch the eye: outboard engines stored on balconies, drainpipes chiselled into ground floor brickwork – safe from wide delivery barges – and small dinghies, used to ferry owners to boats moored on opposite banks, hanging from hooks." -FT.com

Courtesy Dirt Fairy on Flickr

Grab a paddle and be sure to check out the FT's photo slideshow from this trip.

Paula Wolfert releases epic new Moroccan cookbook

2011-10-07T22:03:00.000-07:00

I have three references when it comes to Moroccan cooking.

The first is my mother-in-law, a talented and innovative (in her own way) cook; a vintage Jewish-Moroccan cookbook written in French that she gave me years ago, with my frantic scrawl in the margins noting where my mom-in-law's recipes rapidly deviate from the book's kosher principles (starting with that first big lump of butter she stirs into her harira lamb stew); and finally, my go-to resource* when I can't get her by skype or I'm left scratching my head trying to perform metric to American measuring conversions...

Paula Wolfert's seminal cookbook Couscous and Other Good Foods from Morocco. More than any other, I've found it to be the most precise, descriptive in its methods and rich in anecdotal details on traditional Moroccan cooking.

Image credit Myung J. Chung

Wolfert began her Moroccan culinary explorations more than 50 years ago, learning at the side of experienced home cooks; this experience provided her with ample material to fill what was already a thick book with the widest array of dishes I've come across in English.

Apparently she's set a new milestone with The Food of Morocco, a 500+ page culinary memoir (ooh la la) that updates and expands upon her previous book. . It includes full color photographs and description of the sort of traditional, regional fare she's known for (her recipe for a seafood bistilla has been a favorite of mine, when I'm feeling particularly ambitious in the kitchen).

This excellent review says:

"Sidebars and intros provide adequate space for Paula to weave in culinary tales, divulge regional and historical contexts, and share poignant quotes from the literary giants who helped shape her own Moroccan experiences. All the while, she dishes out ample cooking advice while graciously acknowledging sources."

Image from Wolfert's book The Food of Morocco

A friend tipped me off to this recent NYT article on Wolfert and Mourad Lahlou (the San Fran-based culinary innovator at Aziza restaurant). The writer tries to build tension between the two's methods, but really fails to see that they both simply occupy a spectrum along generational lines.

And based on her comments in her instructions on how to make the thinner-than-phyllo warqa, crediting Lahlou with helping make the recipe successful, their professional relationship seems more collaborative than opposing. --But seriously, if you haven't won a James Beard award of a Michelin star, I'd just go for store-bought...

If you don't happen to have someone around to show you the ropes, Wolfert's books will surely be the best bet for learning, or just appreciating, the repertoire of traditional Moroccan cooking. Get an inside peek here.

I'm looking forward to just getting my hands on this book. I'd love to hear from anyone who's already gotten it, and to learn what you think of the recipes!

*And not just mine. It's in its umpteenth edition, so apparently a whole lot of other people are enjoying it, too. :)

Into Jebl: Graphic design inspired by Chefchaouen

2011-09-25T21:10:00.000-07:00

Spanish graphic designer and multimedia artist Javier Reta's digital collages are inspired from the two years he spent living in Chefchaouen, in Morocco's northern Rif region.

This series is entitled "Into Jebl" (Into the mountain).

Javier's collages draw from his "devotion to these mountain woman and their hard work," his curiosity with Arabic typography as graphic elements and his personal photography.

I love the juxtapositions here, the humor of everyday objects...

...as well as the way in which images of daily life, hard, burdensome, or banal, are translated into sharp graphic elements.

An exhibit of Javier's work just opened at the Marita Segovia gallery in Madrid.

His photography is also quite stunning, veering towards the abstract. See this series 'Blue & Orange.'

All images courtesy Javier Reta. For more of his work, visit his website or portfolio.

Istanbul Modern from MOMA

2011-09-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

Designs inspired by Istanbul by Erdem Akan

The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) Store still has this delightful 'Destination: Istanbul' collection of modern designs from Turkey available.

While the cute rings by Aida Pekin (intriguing, but a little kitsch--her other jewelry is quite mod and organic) and diminutive oiseaux on Berra Alkan's porcelain have appeal, the real standout designer is Erdem Akan.

MOMA is carrying Akan's 'East Meets West' glasses (love!) but a tour of his site reveals so many more designs in this same vein -- "typically" Turkish but definitely modern.

This tray reminds me a bit of Younes Duret's designs,
but just goes to show how popular the star pattern is worldwide...

Simple espresso cups adorned with iznik tile patterns

Dome cloches

Some of these are intended as tourist takeaways. When was the last time you saw these on display in the Grand Bazaar?


Jockey meets fez. But would Ataturk approve?

Can you believe these are trivets?
Presumably reflections of Turkish hipsters are not included.

Would love to grab a few of these myself. Kudos to MOMA for bringing these young designers Stateside.

Hillariously Mapping Stereotypes of the Arab Spring

2011-09-15T12:15:00.000-07:00

From the man who brought us the 'Ultimate Bigot's Calendar of Europe', now we have the (bigoted) 'Hitchikers Guide to the Arab Spring'.

Funny, yet depressing.

As is the 'Americans' View of Africa' and on it goes...

Found via The Arabist.

2011 Jameel art prize to Algerian Rachid Koraichi

2011-09-13T18:56:00.000-07:00

Ever seen Arabic letterpress?

Now you have...

The 2011 Jameel Prize for contemporary art drawing upon Islamic traditions has just been awarded, and this year's winner is Rachid Koraichi, an Algerian multimedia artist.

The judges' comment:

Koraichi uses Arabic calligraphy, and symbols and ciphers from a range of other languages and cultures to explore the lives and legacies of the 14 great mystics of Islam. The work aims to show that the world of Islam, in contrast to contemporary perceptions of crisis and violence, has another side entirely, evident in the tolerant and sophisticated writings of great Muslim thinkers and poets such as Rumi and El Arabi.

All images courtesy the October Gallery, which has an extensive collection of Koraichi's work.

High brow / Low brow

2011-08-15T05:38:00.000-07:00

I'm slightly embarrassed to admit this, but chocolate + pop rocks = a rockin' oral experience.

A friend of mine recently shared with me some her chocolate stash that she brought back from Israel, and though I'd never had thought to put the two together, this duo provides quite a sensation.

Image courtesy Rachel Tepper: source

Though tasty, the chocolate is hardly first rate-- but the novelty of it is worth getting a hold of a bar or two. (Mine went particularly well with black coffee to wash it all down.)

Image courtesy Rachel Tepper: source

If the above is the devilish imp of the chocolate world, this next treat would be a heavenly host of rosy-cheeked cherubim.

Tartufo nero from Tartuflanghe, a small, truffle-centric company from the Piedmont region in northern Italy.

A random person offered one of these to my husband, who then shared it with me, and we immediately scoured the store trying to locate them. No luck. It seems these babies aren't available in the U.S. (If you know otherwise, please drop me a line, I beg you.)

Image courtesy Tartuflanghe

They carry several variations (I have my eye on the Sicilian amaretto-truffle version) but if you like quality dark chocolate, these are addictively good. Like carry the wrinkled wrapper in your purse so you can ask every specialty store and organic grocery manager to carry them good.

And I promise you won't be afraid to recommend them to even the most discerning of cacao connoisseurs (even if that's you).

The Art of Madi: Summer on the Lebanese Riviera

2011-08-11T19:41:00.000-07:00

For me, nothing exudes "summer" like the work of Lebanese artist and sculptor Hussein Madi.

His colorful, sun-drenched paintings bear the clear imprint of Matisse and Picasso, but his landscapes and the rounded sensuality of his figures, be they village folk, women, or musicians, speak to me and offer a perspective on earthy, joyful Oriental / Levantine culture that I find lacking in the other masters' work.

Like the Spaniard and the Frenchman, the Italian-trained Madi devoted many of his works to purity of form and abstraction, fusing the genre with the traditions of harmony and abstraction in Islamic calligraphy.

A wonderful and substantial book (seriously, it weighs nearly five pounds) covering his life's work, along with interviews and art critics' essays, The Art of Madi, is available if you can find it online or in a specialty bookstore.

I came across it in a little Arab bookstore in Los Angeles, and regret not having snatched it up then. If you can find this tome, get it, as I believe it's no longer in print and is a fabulous publication.

A series of his exhibitions have been taking place, mostly across the Gulf states and Beirut, (Nabad, Aida Cherfan, and Art Space galleries) as well as across Europe for many years. Check out his series on birds, if you have the opportunity.

All images courtesy the publisher Saqi Books.

Tunisian Street Art & Music on the Revolution

2011-07-27T14:42:00.000-07:00

Graffiti and hip-hop. It's a classic combination, no matter where you go in the world.

In Tunisia, Franco-Algerian street artists 'Zoo Project' is painting the town with murals in commemoration of the people and actions that helped oust Ben Ali from power, while Foreign Policy magazine profiles the music of El General (the nom de guerre of 21-year-old Hamada Ben Amor), the young rapper whose incendiary underground song Rais el bled ("President of the country") got him into hot water and motivated thousands more into action.

Excerpt from the interview:

LB: Who inspires you musically?
HBA: I'm mainly inspired by two revolutionary rappers: Lotfi Double Kanon in Algeria, and in the west, Tupac Shukar. Tupac raged against the police. That's what I did. But I'm not following blindly the models of these rappers. For example, I don't use bad words in my songs. I'm just serving my art.

-- Everywhere I travel, it amazes me how often Tupac Shakur is a cultural reference (and undoubtedly a greater motivator for learning English than say, Shakespeare...) in every country I've been to. The unemployed guys I met who spent time listening to Tupac (and Michael Jackson) always spoke English to a level of fluidity that surpassed their peers spending hours studying English literature in the Faculté des Lettres. Just sayin'...

They've done a quick overview of other major hip-hop acts from the region as well, from Morocco to Iraq.

Read the full article 'Rapping the Revolution' on FP.com.

Zoo Project found via Out & About Africa

"Amina" and a Jihad for Love

2011-06-24T10:29:00.000-07:00

I feel like enough has already been said about the revelation of the blogger behind A Gay Girl in Damascus turning out to be a married white American in Scotland...the treachery, the implications it may have for the gay community within Syria and regionally, the betrayal felt by those who had closely followed and supported "Amina" in her struggles and activism.

But amidst the flurry of comments, articles, and op-eds on the subject, I was surprised not to see one particular film mentioned at all in the past few weeks following the news of "Amina's" detention and later the pandora's box of Tom MacMaster's self-outing.

A few years ago I saw the documentary A Jihad for Love, a film with a wide scope, from public shaming and detention of a mass of gay men in Egypt, the persecution and flight of a group of gay Iranians into more liberal Turkey, (because, as Ahmadinejad will be happy to inform you, there are no homosexuals in Iran...) a Turkish lesbian couple and gay communities throughout India, Pakistan and elsewhere.

But just as interesting, if not more so (only because I think the travails of the gay community in the ME have received greater attention of late) is the plight of open homosexual Muslims living in the West.

A Jihad for Love focuses strongly on the story of an imam in South Africa, a family man, who has been open with his community about his sexuality and appears to be predominantly persecuted for it by total strangers. Callers on a radio talk show proclaim he should be stoned. Meanwhile, his two young daughters tell him they're proud of him for living his life honestly and in the fullness of his faith. What would normally tear a person down provides him with the motivation to speak out as a voice for Muslims who wish to embrace their identities as mutually inclusive...And there are more stories of those who've fled to Europe, of American-born Muslims and their own tragedies, joys and struggles.

MacMaster's dishonesty shouldn't further marginalize people who don't have the security of living openly in their own countries; but hopefully his acts will continue to serve as a catalyst for social debate and the s

Daniel Nassar closed his piece for Foreign Policy with the appeal to "listen to the sounds of the real struggle from real people. But don't lose your trust with those trying to create a real movement in Syria's LGBT community -- we need your help now more than ever" -- This film is one way to do that and discover a global picture of Muslim LGBTs, and hopefully create a more open forum for these voices as well.

Translation of Abdellah Taia's 'An Arab Melancholy' in WWB

2011-06-02T17:38:00.000-07:00

June marks the annual LGBT "Queer" issue for Words Without Borders magazine. I contributed a excerpt by Moroccan writer Abdellah Taia, from his book Une mélancholie arabe / An Arab Melancholy--forthcoming in English translation in early 2012.

Entitled "The Algerian and the Moroccan," this excerpt recounts the narrator's relationship with an Algerian man in Paris, their tumultuous love affair, repeat break-ups, and the author's orthographic revenge upon his ex-lover after this last returns to him just a few pages from the "love journal" they had written together side-by-side during happier times, keeping the rest of their memories for himself.

The book jumps from Paris to Morocco, to Cairo and back, and is one of several of Taia's novels written in his autobiographical tone; there are moments of pure literary delight, touching humanity and cruel, dark passages from the author's boyhood.

Taia is best known for being the first openly gay Moroccan writer and much of his fiction, including the already translated Salvation Army, deals with his coming to terms with his homosexuality and Arab identity.

Hassan Hajjaj: Modern Moroccan Pop Art

2011-05-26T01:02:00.000-07:00

Andy Warhol's meets eye-popping studio photography and a playful profile Marrakesh's biker chicks in the photographic series 'Kesh Angels by Hassan Hajjaj.

The dayglo cover of the latest Saudi Aramco World Magazine's cover story, "Mid East Cool" about contemporary art from the MENA region, featuring a Hassan Hajjaj photograph.

Ever since I first came across British-Moroccan artist Hassan Hajjaj's photography exhibition at famed contemporary middle eastern artist gallery Rose Issa, I've been charmed by his kitchy layering of pop-art, complex urban identities, ironic post-orientalism, global consumerism, and his celebration of the biker culture unique to Marrakesh.

Marrakesh's flat oasis landscape is the ideal terrain for bikes, motorcycles and scooters, and the swarms of people --men, women and children of all ages-- is one of the first things you notice in Marrakesh. The preponderance of female riders is particularly noticeable compared to other Moroccan cities, where although many women have cars and bikes to get around, they lack the numbers and the eye-catching factor of brightly-dressed "mrrakchias" cruising the streets in the open air. This sub-culture* evidences a greater freedom of movement and independence for women not really found in other Moroccan cities, in my opinion. It also jives cooly with the city's free-wheeling and laid-back atmosphere.

In Hajjaj's series of photos, he combines his previous work in fashion and design (he designed the retro-kooky Moroccan-themed bar Andy Wahloo in Paris, for example) with elements from his multiplicity of cultures.

Kelly Carmichael sums it up well in her excellent review of the artist's work for Contemporary Practices magazine:

"With a nod to both African studio photography, Arabic film posters of his childhood and the iconic look of international fashion magazines, the photographs of both bodies of work are carefully stage-directed by the Hajjaj. Poses, costumes, props and backdrops form mini sets upon which theatrical narratives can be played out around the iconography of East meets West and contemporary culture and consumerism."

A few more quotes from Carmichael's review:

"The urban street aesthetic and contemporary textiles teasingly subvert traditional attire and rework tired clichés, becoming a theatrical device for Hajjaj to cast a flirtatious glance at his audience." "Addressing the politically charged symbol of the veil, Hajjaj playfully questions our perception of and obsession with stereotypes."

Cheeky.

*(Sociology students, here's a thesis waiting for you.)

Alternative transportation in Venice

2011-05-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

When walking just won't do it for you, consider another means of taking in the sights...

And for the hyperactive...space hoppers! Greener than a four-stroke but with all the sound effects, for that scooter experience.

SPACE HOPPERS in VENICE from bayougirl on Vimeo.

Cameleon's fusion of sounds in ' Wellah'

2011-05-16T13:42:00.000-07:00

This love song, "Wellah" features jazzy acoustic guitar, RnB beats, North African percussion, melancholic oriental flute and raspy vocals. It's a great mix.

Brothers Hocine & Hcen Agrane of Cameleon

It was hard to find much on these guys, but once I stumbled across this song by Algerian group Cameleon, I had to find more. The fruits of my search: Cameleon's pages on Facebook & Reverbnation. Some songs are better than others, but worth checking out for the wild mix of musical influences.

Now turn it up to catch that bass beat.

Lalla Links

2011-05-09T17:06:00.000-07:00

* Words Without Borders releases its special May issue devoted to new writing from Afghanistan and Malta

* Creative Roots features a recently-published book on Arabic graffiti art

* Honestly...WTF splashes b&w photos from Feria de Abril in Seville

* An exercise in sustainability & eco-home accessorizing by Sandrine Dole, who uses old rubber littering the streets of Marrakesh to create a line of poufs and pillows.

* An article from Hand/Eye Magazine on artisan Tunisian textiles

All photos via respective sites.

Thank you, Deutsche Welle ...

2011-04-29T00:22:00.000-07:00

For not giving into the royal pomp and Anglomania that has swept over the radio, t.v. and web during the countdown to a stroll down the aisle of Westminster Abbey by a couple of British kids.*

At present, the German outlet's English-language site has been the only major news outlet** to put the apparent terrorist bombing in Marrakesh at the top of their website (followed closely by reports on Syria, and other political/economic/social news) -- even Le Monde placed the news in third place with only a thumbnail and a brief mention of UN condemnation of the attack. (In fact, DW's first hit on the royal nuptials concerns anti-monarchist protests planned across Europe; you'd have to scroll waaaay down to bottom to catch a profile piece on the Queen.)

I started this day at my local US Immigration center, celebrating a Moroccan friend being sworn in as an American citizen, only to walk into my workplace soon after to have a student worker turn to me and ask about the Cafe Argana bombing. I momentarily hesitated to call my friend, not wanting to spoil the mood on a day he became a new citizen only to confront tragedy in his homeland, but seeing the gutted remains of the iconic cafe on AJE caused me to dial. This senseless and seemingly random violence in the heart of the Red City has darkened a day of celebration, a day of life, for millions.

I hate to be a killjoy, but I can only commend editors who make the call to put breaking news with genuine international impact at the top of their site, even if only temporarily.

*Though I do appreciate the idea for the Kate & Will-themed drinking game suggested by NPR.
**Updated to add France Info to this count.

PEN World Voices featuring Arab Authors

2011-04-21T19:17:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted to attend the annual PEN literary festival of international literature, and this year more than ever.

If you're in New York, head out to the festival and check out the "Revolutionaries in the Arab World" panel, featuring Franco-Moroccan author Abdellah Taia, Dutch-Moroccan author Abdelkader Benali, Palestinian journalist Rula Jebreal, to name a few (not to mention all the other great writers and culturati present).

FICAM: Africa & the Middle East's First Animated Film Festival

2011-04-13T22:09:00.000-07:00

This Friday marks the opening night of the 11th edition of FICAM, the International Animated Film Festival of Meknes -- the first film festival in Africa and the Middle East dedicated entirely to animation in Africa*.

Last year's clip

It's hosted by the French Institute of Meknes and projections, lectures and events take place in several locations --including an old caravanserai in the medina -- throughout the Ismailian capital.

Previous festivals have hosted great names of international animation like Michel Ocelot (Kirikou, Azur & Asmar) and the beloved Hayao Miyazaki (Totoro, Ponyo) This year's theme focuses on the creators of the Russian school of animation, including Konstantin Bronzit (At the Ends of the Earth):

"Le cinéma d'animation russe, comme le démontre la programmation de cette année - qui ne se veut en aucun cas exhaustive vue son immensité- a pour modeste ambition de démontrer la diversité du cinéma d’animation qui puise sa force dans son patrimoine oral, littéraire et culturel, tout en étant contemporain, novateur, inventeur de formes."
The Russian animated film school, as this year's program demonstrates -- without intending in any way to be exhaustive, considering its immensity-- holds the modest ambition to demonstrate the diversity of an animated cinema that draws its force from its oral, literary and cultural heritage, all the while remaining contemporary, innovative, and inventing new forms."

The festival also supports a pedagogical initiative through its master class workshops for Moroccan film students -- and the great desire to inspire creativity and curiosity in Moroccan children and families through the joy and magic of animation.

*There's also the Animafrik Festival in Ghana.

Duty free cigarettes, perfume...and dabke

2011-03-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

Fashion Friday: Flamenco Fashion Week

2011-02-18T01:00:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month saw the extravaganza of flounce and polka dots that is the premier flamenco fashion show in the world, the Salon Internacional de la Moda Flamenca (SIMOF) in Seville.

While the show doesn't get much press outside of Spain, Spanish women take their trajes very seriously -- having the show in February allows for enough time to prepare for the big feria in May, a major cultural event.

While I've been a little disappointed at some of the collections these past years, which seemed to be going the route of beauty pageant-wear, including pieces even Barbie might look askance at, but 2011 shows sign evidence of strong talent in these designs.

The elements of bold color and pattern combination are ever-present, along with the ubiquitous florals and fringe.

Some collections are notable for their modern cuts, and I was intrigued by one show, Maricruz, that included maternity-wear and confused by another, whose pirate theme didn't exactly 'float my boat'.

Photos are up at the De Flamenco site, though they're holding back on the images from the last day, when the big names and best talents are featured, along with some of the more performance-based shows.

Also check out this blog post from the exhibition hall.

All images courtesy De Flamenco.

Christian Lacroix & the Levantine dress

2011-02-14T13:26:00.000-08:00

Whether or not you like traditional dress, the pure graphic elements of this exhibition of 150 women's garments from Jordan, Palestine, Syria and the Sinai are remarkable for the sheer vibrancy of color and line.

Having one of the big guns of French couture, Christian Lacroix, as curator certainly doesn't hurt either!

Christian Lacroix has teamed up with the delightful Musee du Quai Branly (they host art exhibits and performances from around the world), working on all aspects of the show, and I've seen slideshows, articles and videos popping up all over the place for it.

From a Guardian interview with the designer:

The exhibition at the Musée du quai Branly consists of a striking ensemble of 150 gowns and accessories dating from the 13th century, each painstakingly embroidered in vibrant colours by women in Syria, Palestine and Jordan. The garments, some from the museum's own archive and some on loan from a private collection, have never been seen in public before.

"There is an opulence to this work," says Lacroix. "It's the idea of these anonymous women making their dresses, very simple, very rustic, and yet you see all the richness in the detail, all the colours like a beautiful flower.

"It's about the self-expression of individuality and I think that is so different from what we are seeing in fashion nowadays, which seems to be connected more and more with status symbols and logos."

I find it interesting that the museum is contextualizing this exhibit with the rise of somber, fundamentalist garments in the modern Middle East, as well as France's own issues with the burqa.It's quite a different tack than that from similar exhibitions (here I'm thinking of the Yves Saint-Laurent 'Une Passion Marocaine') -- but one that will surely garner it plenty of visitors.

No Comment

2011-02-11T00:37:00.000-08:00

Live from Egypt

2011-01-28T10:05:00.000-08:00

Despite internet closures (!!) people in Egypt are still getting through to keep the world updated on the latest around the country.

Check out the BBC's live feed --updated almost every minute-- of what's happening on the streets.
And Al Jazeera English has a live video feed here.

Updated to quote:

1759: The BBC's Yolande Knell has been out on the streets of Cairo, where she describes people running, their eyes streaming as a result of the teargas hanging over the city. "We will never stop until this government goes," yelled one elderly man. Ordinary Egyptians appear to be losing their fear of direct confrontation with the security forces, says our correspondent. Read Yolande's eyewitness report here.

Even better:

1749: AP reporter Ashraf Sweilim reports that some Bedouins in Sinai are besieging the Sheikh Zoueid police station, demanding members of the security forces inside to surrender.

And:

1743: Middle East analyst Roger Hardy writes on the BBC News website:"If the Egyptian unrest turns into an Egyptian revolution, the implications for the Arab world - and for Western policy in the Middle East - will be immense. Egypt matters, in a way that tiny Tunisia - key catalyst that it has been in the current wave of protest - does not. It matters because its destiny affects, in a range of ways, not only Arab interests but Israeli, Iranian and Western interests, too."

Fashion Friday: Aennis Eunis gets his kicks

2011-01-28T01:52:00.000-08:00

Trained in Italy, NY and Jordan, architect-cum-cordwainer Anas Younis Shanaah designs shoes inspired by the beauty of Arabic calligraphy and mosaics under his semi-eponymous line Aennis Eunis. They're sensual enough to make Carrie Bradshaw sqeal (and seriously go into debt) .

With two collections so far, 'Calligraphy' and 'Arabesque', the designer is branching out into hosiery, apparel and accessories soon.

You can find them at Bloomingdales...in Dubai. In case you needed an excuse to visit the Emirates, here's your reason. Just save your pennies.

More designs at Aennis Eunis.

Lalla Links: Music, Protest and Art

2011-01-26T19:04:00.000-08:00

Great series of short, intimate "take-away" concert films by some of the greatest artists worldwide, created by Vincent Moon. Here's part 1 with Enrique Morente.

Take Away Show #116 _ ENRIQUE MORENTE (part 1) from Vincent Moon / Petites Planetes on Vimeo.

The latest Boston Globe Big Picture slideshow: 'Protests spread in the Mid East'

Nice roundup of top Middle Eastern artists and designers on The Polyglot

Paris Underground

2011-01-24T05:36:00.000-08:00

You knew about the catacombs and the tunnels, but what about the art, clubs and diving holes of Paris' underground city?

Nice article and interesting slideshow on National Geographic. This image mentions the fish pond, dating from the 1860s, beneath the Opera Garnier.

Power of the Pen

2011-01-22T11:51:00.000-08:00

In the weeks to come in Tunisia, it will be interesting to watch not only how their society develops but also what the ousting of Ben Ali and his regime's strict censorship of the press and speech will mean for the press of that country -- and what effect, if any, it has for the press around the region.

The BBC ran a great article and video about the "night and day" change on Habib Bourguiba Avenue ("the 'Fleet Street' of Tunis") after journalists kicked out their managing editors (many of whom were a part of the ex-prez's wife's Trabulsi clan, I remember reading awhile ago) and are finally able to write and report what they want.

Morocco's popular magazine Telquel, which has also been burdened with an ongoing struggle with state censorship and fines, (even for relatively neutral, even positive stories) is running this cover this week:

'Yes, it is possible'

What the Jasmine Revolution does for society and democracy in the Middle East may hopefully have a similar effect for the freedom of the press as well. On garde les doigts croisées.

Hezarfen: animated short

2011-01-21T06:17:00.000-08:00

Found this little fast-paced delight on Creative Roots earlier today. This short animated film is based on the Turkish tale of Hezarfen, an historical Ottoman man to attempt to fly well before the days of the Wright Brothers. The story goes he took off from the famous Galata Tower of Istanbul in 1632 and with the help of the southwest wind, flew across the straits to land in Doğancılar square in Üsküdar, on the Asiatic side of the Queen of Cities.

Hezarfen from Hezarfen on Vimeo.

Love the score. I can only hope there's more to come from this team!

Thanks for the links! Man, people love this post...

2011-01-18T01:05:00.000-08:00

I'm always astonished how popular some posts turn out to be. The surprise by far has been my often-linked-to post on Muammar Qaddafi's elite corps of female personal body guards. I first heard about it when I read about American filmmaker Rania Ajami's documentary 'Shadow of a Leader' the idea for which she explains, came about when “An uncle of mine once told me a story about Muammar Qaddafi, who arrived in Kuwait one day surrounded by these beautiful women in military uniforms. The Kuwaitis, he said, were confused. They didn’t know if they were going to be attacked or seduced! I always remembered that story.” - Source

I've always been intrigued and occasionally bewildered by the Libyan dictator's sartorial tastes (I'd really REALLY like to interview his tailor; how would those patron-client conversations go? The humble tailor approaches the great leader with stupor and trembling, measuring tape and clothespins, the insignia of his profession, adorning his shoulders, and asks Qaddafi what he'd like. 'I'm looking for a rococo toga-cum-boubou. What do you have in a puce yellow?' ...Which must've resulted in this. (OK, I admit I kind of like it.) And I can only imaging the conversation that lead to this tie-dye monstrosity...)

From the Daily Mail

But his "Amazon" entourage was news to me. So I compiled a little post, and watched it blossom as various respectable news organizations linked to it over the years. The most recent of which, Slate.com, (the usual accompaniment to my morning coffee,) posted an "Explainer" article on the crude and bizarre joke (which I have heard around Moroccan cafe tables on more than one occasion) attributed to Qaddafi by way of that pinnacle of Italian manhood, Signor Silvio Berlusconi, who responds to the question Where did bunga bunga come from?:

"An aspiring [17-year-old] model and part-time belly dancer claims she witnessed sex orgies at the villa of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Karima Keyek says Berlusconi referred to the parties as "bunga bunga" sex sessions and said he'd learned about them from Libyan President Muammar Qaddafi. The phrase has taken Italy by storm, but no one is quite sure whether Berlusconi made it up or if it's a legitimate Libyan phrase." - Brian Palmer, Slate

I invite you to read the article to discover more, and thank you to Palmer for such the eye-popping answer and kindly linking to my old post.

I'm genuinely curious to see Ms. Ajami's film, (described on IMDB as "investigat[ing] the phenomenon of Qaddafi's elite female bodyguard corps and the tensions these women embody: tensions between Islam, modernisation in a nomadic society, a militarist feminism and an urban dictatorship") and do think it is notable that Qaddafi has, despite the Bond-villainesque shock-factor, chosen to surround himself with all-female protection. The ladies look pretty sturdy to me, though that equates to any genuine gender equality for Libyan women, necessarily. But then, the only Libyans I've ever met were a few Libyan male students, so we're surely better off asking such questions of the women themselves (which I also hope is in Ajami's documentary).

For a more serious and hard-hitting commentary on the dynamic duo, try this article from the Daily Mail on unelected leaders and their eccentricities.

Meanwhile, I think I need to find a cubicle wall or something to hang this baby on:

-Source

Sinking into the Sands: Mark LeVine's editorial on Tunisia & the US

2011-01-16T10:51:00.000-08:00

UC Irvine prof Mark LeVine's extended and articulate opinion essay from Al Jazeera English on the potential for a new dynamic for US foreign policy in the Middle East.

Of note:

"Once Ben Ali had fled the country, the President did salute "brave and determined struggle for the universal rights", applauded "the courage and dignity of the Tunisian people", and called on the Tunisian government "to respect human rights, and to hold free and fair elections in the near future that reflect the true will and aspirations of the Tunisian people".

But unless there is a stick behind this call, there is every reason to believe, as so many Tunisians and other commentators worry, that the country's corrupt and still powerful elite will find a way to remain entrenched in power once the situation calms down. Indeed, Obama's call to "maintain calm" is counter productive. While violence is of course deplorable, the worst thing for Tunisians to do would be to remain calm, to tone down their protests and leave the streets.

Now is the time for Tunisians to ensure that the revolution that is just sprouting is not cut off or co-opted. The protests need to continue and even expand until the foundations of the regime are uprooted and other senior officials removed from power and sent into exile as Ben Ali has now been."

Insightful analysis from Hanane Harrath on Tunisia, Islamism and the Maghreb

2011-01-15T15:36:00.000-08:00

In addition to my last post and the many editorials on what recent events in Tunisia may result in for other countries around the region, I'd like to highlight the comments of one Moroccan journalist which I find particularly insightful.

She has a particulaly striking point regarding islamism that I haven't seen covered in any other media so far.

Here are some excerpts, in translation, from an interview with Hanane Harrath, of the Moroccan diaspora magazine Le Courrier de l'Atlas, published on French television channel TV5's website:

Pourquoi le régime tunisien qui était si verrouillé, s'est-il effondré si soudainement, comme un château de cartes ?
C’est vrai que la rapidité avec laquelle le régime de Ben Ali a plié bagage ne laisse pas de surprendre. Plusieurs facteurs ont peut-être concouru à précipiter la fin du régime. Premier facteur : le déplacement des émeutes de la périphérie au centre même du pouvoir, la capitale Tunis. Tant que le conflit restait confiné aux villes de province, le régime pouvait encore donner l’impression qu’il contrôlait la situation et pouvait tenter de calmer les choses par des mesures symboliques comme le limogeage du gouverneur de Sidi Bouzid, la ville où tout a commencé. Mais la contagion à Tunis a irréversiblement changé la donne.
Deuxième facteur : la ténacité des émeutiers. Ils n’ont rien lâché, durant près d’un mois : ils se sont montrés déterminés, malgré les morts qui se multipliaient, à aller jusqu’au bout. Troisième facteur : les déclarations de Ben Ali. Il n’a pas joué toutes ses cartes d’un coup, il a gardé les plus fortes pour la fin : l’organisation de législatives anticipées, son départ en 2014, la liberté d’expression. Mais ces annonces, surprenantes de la part d’un président qui n’avait jamais rien cédé, ne pouvaient signifier que deux choses : soit qu’il gagnait du temps, formulant des promesses dont il pourrait se dédire une fois le calme revenu auquel cas il n’était pas crédible et il fallait poursuivre la lutte. Soit cela signifiait qu’il était à ce point affaibli qu’il cédait volontiers sur des points forts, auquel cas il suffirait de poursuivre encore le mouvement un tout petit peu pour le faire flancher. Et c’est ce qui s’est passé.

Why did the Tunisian regime, which seemed so firmly entrenched, collapse so suddenly like a house of cards?

It's true that the speed with which the Ben Ali regime packed its bags is surprising. Several factors may have converged to precipitate the end of the regime. The first factor: the displacement of the riots from the periphery to the center of power, the capital Tunis. So long as the conflict remained confined to the provincial cities, the regime could still give the impression that it was controlling the situation and that it could try to calm things through symbolic measures like the dismissal of the governer of Sidi Bouzid, the city where things first began. But the contagion in Tunis irreversably changed the deal.
The second factor: The rioters' tenacity. They never let up, for nearly a month; they showed themselves to be determined, despite the deaths that multiplied, and went all the way.
Third factor: Ben Ali's declarations. He didn't play all his cards at the same time, and he kept the strongest for the end: organization of anticipated elections, his departure in 2014, freedom of speech. But these announcement, surprised on the part of a president who has never ceded anything, could only signify two things: either he was trying to buy some time, making promesses that he could deny once calm returned, in which case he was not credible and the fight must continue. Or else it meant that he had become weakened to the point of voluntarily ceding on these important points, in which case all it would take would be to keep the movement going a little longer to make him lose his nerve. and that's exactly what happened.

After asking Harrath to describe the social makeup of the protest movement, the interviewer next asks about Islamism:

Où sont passés les Islamistes ?
Le régime tunisien a pris soin de museler les islamistes et de les écarter : petite parenthèse, c’est tout de même une sacrée ironie du sort que celui-là même qui a combattu ces islamistes se retrouve aujourd’hui réfugié au pays du wahhabisme, la tendance la plus rigoriste de l’islam dont s’inspirent tous les mouvements islamistes du monde…Je crois qu’avec cette révolte tunisienne, les islamistes (pas seulement tunisiens, mais partout) ont perdu définitivement ce qui les faisait prospérer jusqu’à maintenant : ils se sont en effet toujours posés en champion de la contestation, cherchant à soulever les masses contre les régimes en place corrompus et vendus à l’Occident impie. Le premier moteur des islamistes, c’est la frustration et la colère de la rue arabe. Aujourd’hui, les Tunisiens ont montré que la révolution pouvait se faire sans eux. Ils ont ravi aux islamistes leur seul programme, leur seule idée : la révolution. Et pour ça, merci aux Tunisiens.
What's happened to the islamists?
The Tunisian regime took care to muzzle the islamists and to distance them [presumably from social and political enfranchisement --me]; To make a quick aside, it's a real irony that the very same man who fought these islamists today finds himself taking refuge in the land of Wahhabism, the strictest strain of Islam that inspires all the islamist movements of the world...
I think that with this Tunisian revolt, the islamists (not just the Tunisian ones, but everywhere) have definitively lost that which allowed them to flourish until now: they have always positioned themselves as the champion of protest, seeking to make the masses rise up against the corrupt regimes [which they view] as having sold out to a godless West. The islamists' primary motor is the frustration and anger of the Arab street. Today, the Tunisians have shown that revolution can take place without them. They have snatched from the islamists their sole programme, their sole idea: revolution. And for that, thank you to the Tunisians.

Finally:

Fera-t-il tâche d'huile au Maghreb ? Et au delà ? Là où le mouvement a commencé à faire des ému[et]es, c’est surtout en Algérie : au Maroc, les événements tunisiens ne sont pas vraiment couverts, de peur de susciter des manifestations de soutien qui pourraient dégénérer. En Algérie en revanche, on a vu des jeunes descendre aussi dans la rue, mais sans que cela ne prenne l’ampleur tunisienne. En Egypte, mais surtout en Jordanie, où de nombreux manifestants défilent, les choses risquent en revanche de se corser. Je ne suis pas sûre que cela aille aussi loin que pour la Tunisie, mais deux choses importantes sont à noter. D’une part, il est fort probable que les dirigeants du monde arabe lâchent un peu de lest sur certaines questions pour éviter tout conflit : Moubarak par exemple pourrait y réfléchir à deux fois maintenant avant de proposer son fils comme candidat à sa succession, d’autant qu’il sait très bien que l’armée ne l’accepterait pas. Auquel cas, si l’armée et le peuple se retournent contre lui, c’en est fini de son régime. Ensuite, je crois que la rue arabe a vécu par procuration ce dont elle a toujours rêvé : grâce aux Tunisiens, elle a retrouvé une fierté et une dignité qu’elle n’avait plus connu depuis les guerres pour les indépendances. ...Pour la première fois, ce monde arabe retrouve une légitimité, une image positive. Quelque part il entre de nouveau dans l’histoire. Et ce n’est pas rien.

Will this spread across the Maghreb? And beyond?

Algeria is above all where the movement has started to cause riots; in Morocco, the Tunisian events aren't really being covered, out of fear that support protests might degenerate. In Algeria by contrast, we have seen young people coming into the streets, but without it taking on the same scale as in Tunisia. In Egypt, and above all in Jordan, however, where numerous protestors are marching, things do risk becoming more serious. I'm not sure that it will go as far as in Tunisia, but there are two important points worth making. For the first part, it is very likely that the leaders of the Arab world may make a few concessions on certain questions to avoid any conflict: Mubarak, for example, might think twice now before proposing his son as a candidate for his succession, particularly since he knows quite well that the army will not accept him. In which case, if the army and the people turn against him, his regime will be finished. Nest, I believe the Arab street is living by proxy what it has always dreamed of: thanks to the Tunisians, it has regained a pride and dignity that it has not known since the wars of independence.... For the first time, the Arab world has regained a legitimacy, a positive image.In some way it is entering into history anew. And that's not nothing.

For the full interview from TV5 Monde, check out the original article in French.

Congratulations, Tunisia

2011-01-15T12:20:00.000-08:00

"[T]he end of the Ben Ali era marks a rare case of an Arab leader brought down by popular revolt. It will alarm the region's autocratic leaders but give hope to younger people that change is possible." - la une of the Financial Times this morning.

From La Liberation

We've spent the entire evening and morning at our house following reports of the eloquently named Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia. The courage and determination of the Tunisian people is only to be saluted and I truly hope that it will serve as a catalyst for reform throughout the region. There is much still to be done however, and I hope Tunisia's citizens will be able to remove the barnacles and parasites of a corrupt and decrepit political system from their current positions and move forward with a democratic process.

Instead of being upheld as a model of "stability and moderation" as it existed under Ben Ali's repression, I hope Tunisia will emerge as a true example of a functioning democracy and society in the Arab region, forged by its own people and not from the decrees and manoeuverings of power shifting from colonizers to dictatorial strongmen. That will be Tunisia's greatest achievement, and one I truly hope it can achieve.

The common theme of editorials around the world seems to be precisely the sense of hope that the Tunisian revolution is spreading among citizens throughout the region, as well as a message to Arab leaders that they may be next. Two of the best I've seen so far is from Anthony Shadid at the NYT and from Ian Black of the Guardian.

The latter cites an Egyptian tweeter who writes: "Every Arab leader is watching Tunisia in fear. Every Arab citizen is watching Tunisia in hope and solidarity." It's not just Arabs, my friend.

Here are some of the best news stories and photo essays I've seen lately:

Photo essay from the New York Times (above) and another from La Liberation

As of publishing this, I did a google search in French & English on Morocco's and Algeria's (official) reaction to the events in Tunisia: Nothing. Walou. Rien. (We did hear coverage of it on Medi1, and television channel 2M showed some footage from the streets -- but the lack of any images of rioting, protests and police/citizen confrontations were notably missing.)

The beloved French news puppets, Les Guignols de l'info, however, did offer up a light-hearted critique by staging an interview a duo with Algerian president Bouteflika and Tunisia's Ben Ali in their usual manner of wry buffoonery:

La Liberation, meanwhile, promptly published a summary of official pronouncements on the Jasmine Revolution from countries throughout the region. Even Hamas (well, of course Hamas) had already thrown in its two cents. Same for Qaddhafi, though he's always quick to take to the mic. And who isn't listed? Algeria and Morocco.

Al Jazeera English is running a detailed timeline of events in Tunisia starting with Mohammad Bouazizi's auto-immolation, and is still updating regularly.

Jeune Afrique posted an article, perhaps one of the first of many more to explore whatever role political Islam may play in the secular country's future, citing the proclaimed return of exiled islamist political leader, Rached Ghannouchi, to his homeland, where he claims he wishes "to take part in the national coalition government being prepared in Tunisia. He is above all surprised that no one has already asked him to participate."

Special mention goes to Global Voices Online who've been following Tunisia for years and have covered the latest events in detail with unique information from citizen bloggers. Bravo, guys.

Fashion Friday: Stereo.Type Designs

2011-01-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

Recently came across this incredible bilingual (Arabic/English) collabo between NY & Dubai designers in the form of typographical jewelry created by Ebon Heath and Mona Ibrahim.

'Question & Answer earring'

Just a few of their Arabic designs, for more, check out their sites above.

Fashion Friday: Casa Street Style

2011-01-07T07:11:00.000-08:00

Do you spend more than a little bit of time checking out the latest international street style blogs to find out what's the latest from Amsterdam, Tokyo, Rio or Saskatchawan? Well now you can add Casablanca to your it-list.

Joseph Ouechen, the blogger behind You*Are*The*Style dishes all the latest on Moroccan street trends, contemporary high fashion, Casablanca Fashion Week, and Moroccan inspiration in major international brands (hellloooo YSL...)

Joseph has an eye for kicks and those little elements that add that little Moroccan vibe to international chic.

All photos courtesy You*Are*The*Style.

Modern Maison in Marrakesh

2011-01-05T19:51:00.000-08:00

Check out this New York Times style shoot of the modern Marrakesh home of jewelry designer Stéphanie Giribone and husband Mohamed Zefifene (who designed that fire place!). Love the built-in shelves.

It's an cool mix of mod style and more typical Moroccan home design.

Happy New Year: Dawn in Granada

2011-01-03T17:10:00.000-08:00

Welcome to a new year, everyone. Sunshine burst through our blanket of grey on the first day of the year, which I hope will be a promising sign for 2011.

I'd planned to start this year off with a different post, but as I sat nursing a strong cup of coffee and listening to the morning news before returning to work after a long holiday, my ear caught this short NPR piece on Camaron de la Isla, one of the most distinctive voices in flamenco singing. As I sat enraptured by the sounds, I recalled both the recent passing of another flamenco legend, Enrique Morente, as well as an excellent documentary I saw a few years ago, Dawn in Granada.

It's a story of tradition and legacy passed from one generation of brothers to their daughters. Each father instructs his daughter in his prospective art,dance or music, and the filial and fraternal intimacy, the pride and stress of high expectations in such a creative family are touching and intriguing. Both are well worth a watch.

An eye for design: Alexandra Koumba's evil eye jewelry

2010-12-30T14:48:00.000-08:00

When you find something that works, you run with it, and designer Alexandra Koumba certainly has with her eye-motif line of jewelry.

I've always loved expressions of this timeless charm from the Mediterranean and beyond.

A friend of mine has an entire wall covered in different "evil eye" designs collected over the course of her travels, but some of the most striking pieces are dangling charms like these.

Check out Alexandra's entire line at the i4D shop on 1st Dibs.

Legos in Tunisia

2010-12-08T15:10:00.000-08:00

The fanciful Lego mansions I constructed as a kid might've looked a little like this......if, as an 8-yr-old, I'd had a design degree, a penchant for futurism, and a mega-sandbox to play in.

Dar Hi is the brand new block-work retreat in the desert town of Nefta, Tunisia designed by quirky-cool French architect Matali Crasset. It uses all local materials, is eco-friendly, and a little weird, in that this-is-cool-can-I-actually-sit-on-it? kind of way.

Love it or hate it?

Lots more pictures on DesignBoom and Creative Greed. Read more about it in this WSJ Article.

Photos via DesignBoom and Creative Greed.

Some reading recommendations on Words Without Borders

2010-12-05T16:59:00.000-08:00

While the latest issue of Words Without Borders is well into its December issue, the editor there asked me to follow up my translation of Dutch-Moroccan author Fouad Laroui's short story My Father's Antenna for the November issue on literature from the Middle East with some reading recommendations for North African emigré writers.

Here's the short list -- would love to hear what others I might've missed!

P.S. The standout of the November issue was Mummy and Honey, a short story by Shahriar Mandanipour,
the author of Censoring an Iranian Love Story. It's beautifully translated, sensual and dark. Dive in.

A Dutch (tajine) Oven from A+R

2010-11-18T15:00:00.000-08:00

Smart! For a very Dutch (oven) twist on a tajine, take a look at this terracotta & ceramic, oven-proof slow cooker designed by the young and talented Dutch designer Margriet Foolen, available from California-based design store A+R.

I'm always amused or surprised by the neat, contemporary designs at A+R, but this one really takes the cake for me. Go from chicken with olives to flan with a flip of the lid (literally).

Everything does taste better in a slow cooker...

Lalla Links: Intangible Cultural Heritage, The Calligrapher's Secret &Jewish LIfe in Morocco

2010-11-17T15:12:00.000-08:00

-If you're in the New York area during the next few months, be sure to check out the exhibition and events at the American Sephardi Federation's "2000 Years of Jewish Life in Morocco".

-Interlink Books, one of the very best publishers in the U.S. for fiction from the Middle East, has a special deal going on now in celebration of Syrian-German author Rafik Schami's, author of both The Dark Side of Love and the recently released (and highly recommended) The Calligrapher’s Secret;, you can download a pamphlet featuring Arabic calligraphy, Schami's essay What I Create Will Outlast Time: The Story of the Beauty of Arabic Script and an excerpt from the novel.

-Yesterday UNESCO announced that it had made its 2010 additions (including those "in urgent need of safeguarding") to its Intangible Cultural Heritage List, including some you've probably never heard of but will find fascinating and others you won't believe took so long to get on the list. For a taste, here's a random selection:

flamenco (can't believe they waited so long on that one), French gastronomic meal (surely in no danger of disparition), the Catalonian Castells (human towers) of Spain, gingerbread craft from northern Croatia (sweet!), the Mediterranean diet (...), several traditions from Turkey (oil wrestling, the sema ceremony (whirling dervishes), the unique Armenian stone crosses, Afro-Colombian marimba music ( :) :) ), and the art of falconry from...Morocco to Mongolia, Spain, France, and all over.

The short video on it is a great way to spend a coffee break.

The list only dates back to 2008 and there's a lot of fascinating information of these important expressions of humanity there (photos, video, details) to explore.

Enough for several coffee breaks. Enjoy!

My translation of Fouad Laroui's short story on Words Without Borders

2010-11-08T07:26:00.000-08:00

My translation of one of Dutch-Moroccan author Fouad Laroui's short stories, "My Father's Antenna," was just published this month at Words Without Borders.

WWB fills a specifal place in my heart for the work they do in introducing new literary landscapes to a global audience. They're an online magazine focused entirely on international literature in translation, featuring a different theme or region each month. November is a celebration of contemporary writing from and on the Middle East and North Africa -- and coincides with the release of Tablet and Pen, a new anthology of the same.

I was so pleased the editors there liked this story by Laroui, drawn from his collection in the book Tu n'as rien compris a Hassan II. Here modernity comes to a traditional little Moroccan village in the form of a television, and radically changes one family's life -- speaking to wider social change throughout. The story's bittersweet humor, cultural details and well-crafted clash of foreign technology with the domesticity of the Belbal Family and village life are what first leapt out at me.

Here's a little teaser:

"Grandmother watched from afar, hidden behind the door, curious as a cat but fearing the devil and the jinns that hide inside European machines."

Laroui was once again nominated for the Prix Goncourt, one of France's most prestigious literary prizes, this time for his latest novel Une annee chez les francais, a charming and, as you'd expect, hilarious story about a precocious if socially-awkward Moroccan boy transferred to the country's most prestigious school, le Lycee Lyautey, in Casablanca. It's a lovely novel, in some ways practically an ode to the particularities of French education, and I hope it and some of his earlier work (Mefiez-vous des parachutistes, Les dents du topographe, Judith und Jamaal) also get picked up by English-language publishers.

To the best of my knowledge, this is the first of Fouad Laroui's stories (written in French) to be translated into English. I hope you'll check out my translation and this month's other stories and articles at WWB.

TriBeCa hosts first Moroccan film festival in the US

2010-10-25T08:11:00.000-07:00

If you're in the NY area later this month, head out to the first-ever (really?) Moroccan film festival in the US held at the Tribeca Cinema on Oct. 29 & 30. Some old, some new, some good, some great, (at least one bad) and all by Moroccan directors, with the notable exception of the documentary I Heart Hip Hop in Morocco (a must-see). Plus, each film is accompanied by a short from up-and-coming young students from the film school in Marrakesh, L’Ecole Supérieur des Arts Visuels.

Procceds from the Opening Night Charity Benefit and Festival goes to a good cause, the High Atlas Foundation (started by former Peace Corps volunteers) that supports development projects in rural Morocco.

If I may permit myself to wander into Robert Ebert territory, here's the film lineup (more info here):

Oct. 29
Burned Hearts (Les Coeurs Brulés) (2009) Dir. Ahmed El Maanouni
Moussem Dir. Izza Génini (highly recommended, she makes great documentaries)

Oct. 30
Looking for My Wife’s Husband (1995) Dir. Abderraham Tazi (hilarious premise; old but good)
I Love Hip Hop in Morocco (2007) Dir. Josh Asen & Jennifer Needleman
The Dog’s Life of Juanita Narboni (2005) Dir. Farida Benlyazid
La Grande Villa (2002) Dir. Latif Lahlou
In Pieces (2009) Dir. Hakim Belabbes
Where Are You Going, Moishe? (2007) Dir. Hassan Ben Jalloun
Tenja (Testament) (2004) Dir. Hassan Legzouli
Casanegra (2009) Dir. Nour-Eddine Lakhmari
Marock (2006) Dir. Laila Marrakchi (this one was a hit a few years back)

More Moroccan-inspired designs by Younes Duret

2010-10-21T14:59:00.000-07:00

Franco-Moroccan designer Younes Duret has been keeping busy, with his inventive modern designs drawing from his multicultural background to create humorous and beautiful objects for daily life.

Who doesn't enjoy a beautiful presentation when it comes les arts de la table? Younes adds to his portfolio of servingware (including a surprising heat-sensitive tray and his chunky take on the traditional Moroccan teapot) with a quadruple-decker tajine and these gorgeous little zellij-shaped dishes.

"Zellifood"

North African zellij patterns have been a major source of inspiration for Duret - check out his award-winning "Zelli" bookshelf.

"Big Tajine": what Duret calls a new way to surprise diners through while conserving traditional methods of cooking and preparation.

Afar on Alkasir - The Censorship 'Circumventor'

2010-10-09T13:26:00.000-07:00

The "experiential travel and international culture" magazine Afar* just did a short profile on Walid Al-Saqaf, a Swedish-Yemeni journalist, techie, and TED Fellow who invented the Alkasir (meaning 'the circumventor') technology that allows people to "map and circumvent cyber-censorship of the types used in China and throughout the Middle East (or anywhere, really).

Not only does the device allow people to break through governmental firewalls on websites like Facebook and Google, but it also "creates the possibility of dynamically tracking and studying filtering patterns around the world" -i.e. track who is blocking which websites and where. -source: Middle East Youth

Part of the Alkasir team's mission is:

"to expose governments, help reformists, and through organized circumvention, enable users to access information, which is a basic human right."

It's an informative and intriguing short article, best to pick up a copy of Afar and check it out.

---------------
*Afar is still getting the user-side of their website up and going, so I recommend the blog, particularly the (re)post on '10 Words Every Traveler Should Know,' including the Indonesian jayus and the Scottish tartle...

First image courtesy Wired magazine.

A White Elephant in Tangiers

2010-10-06T20:16:00.000-07:00

It's hard not to love everything about La Maison de l'Elephant Blanc, from top to bottom.

Impossible to choose which of the two floors is more inviting. A mosaic-adorned pool on the ground floor melds with the horizon, looking out over the Straits of Gibraltar, while a multi-level rooftop terrace makes you want to linger quietly with the seagulls and take it all in.

Check out the details - the decor is tasteful, spare, but still comfortable.

Carved plaster walls (love this) and the ubiquitous chandeliers mix with mid-century light fixtures, modern art, and inlaid Syrian furniture, all on a muted palette of neutral whites.

(Visit the site and keep an eye out for the eponymous "white elephants".)

Cote Maison has more lovely images of this guest house, including the one at top.

All images courtesy Cote Maison or L'elephant blanc.

The Moroccan Labyrinth: One for the history buffs...

2010-09-29T23:56:00.000-07:00

And the military history (and film) aficionados...

In American high schools (or at least in mine) our history teachers usually make only a brief glissade over the events of the Spanish Civil War on the run-up to WWII; we hear about the communists fighting tooth and nail (the international brigades inevitably described with either the faintest tinge of pride or disdain depending perhaps on how well your teacher enjoyed reading Hemingway and Orwell, and their relative age circa 1969) against the forces of General Franco's army, buttressed in no small part with recruits from the Rif (the where? they may as well have said Mars, for all we knew of toponyms and geography of North Africa...we'd certainly seen more pictures of the former) before the fascists finally took Spain.

It's a history usually summarized in the space of an hour, and mostly seemed to be just a big 'setting-of-the-scene' for the inevitable weeks of coursework spent on the rise of European fascism, everyone's favorite doughtiest (and doughiest?) head of state, Churchill, and the Cold War*.

So in a much-delayed history lesson that greatly amplified the few minutes we spent covering this particular episode of world history, I've just finished watching The Moroccan Labyrinth, a well-researched and -presented Spanish documentary about the Spanish occupation of the Rif and northern Morocco, its battles against Abdelkrim's resistance movement, and the Spaniards' eventual victory that gave rise to the fascist party, Franco supporters, and the Spanish Civil War.

Through interviews with Spanish historians, soldiers, and Moroccan men who fought in or witnessed these battles, archival footage (including some shocking historical photographs), the filmmakers have pieced together an engrossing history of this period in European-Moroccan history. It covers over 40 years of history, including covering the guerrilla tactics of Abdelkrim's army, the Spanish policy (or rather, lack thereof) of occupying Melilla and its environs, the civilian Spanish population's distaste for "the African War".

Echoing JMG Le Clezio's novel Desert, one of the Moroccan combatants who fought under Abdelkrim mentions that when he attacked the French army (who by then had become the allies of the Spanish), they weren't ever fighting "Frenchmen" -- they fought an army corps composed of Senegalese and other west Africans.There are plenty of moments in the film that give pause for thought.

What might sound like a one-sided account of European brutality is really rather nuanced and presents an open telling of the complications, brutalities and immediate and long-term consequences of early twentieth-century colonial warfare. Particularly striking are the comments from the Moorish falangists who, driven by hunger and poverty, admit to their willingness to join the Spanish army that had bombed and killed their fathers just to have something to eat; praise for their fair treatment as soldiers comes bracketed with bitter words of being tossed out of Iberia following Franco's victory, left with only their false legs and the familiar knots of hunger and poverty in their stomachs.

While the final segment on contemporary clandestine immigration to Spain feels tacked on at the end, the comments from young Moroccan boys about their perspective of this period of their history makes for a fine ending. (Though one wonders if one 12-year-old wearing a well-worn Che Guevara shirt and eulogizing Abdelkrim was intentional or a coincidental irony lost on the boy...)

Personally, I think the film is worth watching simply for the first-hand testimony of this quickly-disappearing generation of Moroccans (many of them octo- and nono-genarians, forcément).
Icarus Films, by the way, distributes some first-rate documentaries on a full spectrum of subjects from independent filmmakers worldwide. Their films are really meant for schools or organizations etc. but are sure to interest most anyone. So if you don't have the institutional budget of say, a university (and a very compelling speech prepared to woo your acquisitions librarian) definitely look for these at your library or any organizations you might belong to. It's worth the time and money, and you'll be supporting independent artists, too. (The good karma will come back to you, eventually...)

Also see these films (among many, many others) from Icarus Films :
Bruly Bouabr é 's Alphabet (short and highly recommended); The Underground Orchestra (musicians in the Paris Metro); We Loved Each Other So Much (on Lebanese chanteuse Fairuz); The Perfumed Garden, and Home, or Maids in My Family.

-----------
*(I can still envision my white-bearded and tie-dye-tshirt-wearing history teacher leaning heavily on his wobbly wooden podium, expounding at length about Stalin and Germany. We took copious notes. (Those of us who weren't asleep.) Mine were beautifully color-coded...I was so proud of them I actually kept them around for years...though I don't know that they particularly helped me ace the test...)

Images courtesy the Spanish Ministry of Culture, the Kasama Project, and this forum, respectively.

Details, details...and a bit of randomness

2010-08-11T16:41:00.000-07:00

I can only imagine he was inspired by real life.

A 'grotesque' statue at the gothic-style City College in New York.

Do you think he likes what he's reading?

Thanks to Muhlberger's World History for source; originally posted at Ephemeral New York.

Mediterranean Architecture: Djerba, Ibiza, Carthage and Essaouira

2010-08-10T15:52:00.000-07:00

Let me invite you on a mini-vacation to tour a few beautiful Mediterranean homes, courtesy of Marie Claire Maison. Follow the links for the full slideshows and a bit of late-afternoon daydreaming.

Like any decent tour, let's start with the doors:

The mashrabiya doors to one of the rooms at Dar Dhiafa, on the Tunisian island of Djerba.

(Clockwise from top)

- The serenity of this traditional Tunisian courtyard in Carthage believes the cozy, contemporary interior.

- A plein-air "fortress" in Ibiza is the picture of spartan luxe.

- French interior decorator Francoise Smilenko's riad in Essaouira is a study overlapping texture and color.

- Another Ibizan retreat, crouched on the island's wooded hills, mixes traditional and modern architecture.

(And to conclude, I have a special treat in store from Tangiers, coming soon...)

All images courtesy Marie Claire Maison.

Modern Moroccan Rugs from 1st Dibs

2010-07-16T15:29:00.000-07:00

1960s rug from Mansour

Just because they call it vintage doesn't mean it'll appeal to me, but I do admit a fondness for quirky floor coverings. The last thing I am is a rug aficionado but there's a very modern appeal to these Moroccan wool rugs on offer at 1st Dibs.

Both from Nazmiyal

I love the unusal pale colors, their quirky geometry and dynamic pattern and narrative.

From dealer Nazmiyal

From Doris Leslie Blau

Lalla Links: Seeing red in Pamplona

2010-07-15T16:13:00.000-07:00

The Boston Globe's "Big Picture" covers the 2010 San Fermin festival in Pamplona.

Swingy Berber Boho Jazz: Hindi Zahra

2010-07-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

I've been impressed with how many artists with Middle Eastern and North African roots the radio program The World has been featuring lately. From contemporary Tunisian oudist Dhafer Youssef to the versatile Venezuelan-Lebanese singer Elizabeth Ayoub (who does country music in Arabic!) but I was really taken with boho French-Moroccan chanteuse Hindi Zahra, who fuses Berber music and lyrics with jazz and funk. They've got a great short interview with her talking about the similarities between James Brown and Berber music ( yes, yes! just listen...)

Layers of Moroccan percussion, that haunting ingenue voice and a visually arresting video (along with what looks like a tuxedo-turned-matador jacket lost in the Amazonian jungle) come together to make this swingy, singable clip (I can't embed it, so you'll simply have to click the link, but here's a preview):

It's a seamless, eclectic mix all her own.

Fashion Friday: MoreCult

2010-07-09T09:26:00.000-07:00

The Dutch brand MoreCult produces limited-edition streetwear combining Arabic calligraphy and an urban edge in bright, eye-catching colors.

In collabo with talented graphic designer and calligrapher Pascal Zoghbi, MoreCult puts out an annual line of artful "basics" for men and women : hoodies, tees and sweatpants in coordinating patterns and colors.

The 2010 line features cool, icy blues.

What I like is the clean, European esthetic to these togs.

But what makes me like them even more is Zoghbi's own remark about their most striking feature, the kufi calligraphy:

"it is interesting to see the kufi arabic calligraphic style become the most modern and contemporary arabic style nowadays, knowing that Kufi is the oldest and earliest [of] Arabic calligraphic styles."

Best of all, the sizes are on sale and more designs (including women's) are sure to come.

For current styles, visit MoreCult.

All images courtesy MoreCult website and Pascal Zoghbi.

World's most expensive square footage

2010-06-30T16:50:00.000-07:00

While I think I'll save my pennies for a down payment on a house I might actually be able to wiggle my toes in, I can't help but marvel at the ingenuity and artistry behind these little "dream houses" by Philippe Tournaire. And there's a nice story behind them:

Les premières bagues architecture furent découvertes pendant l’ère Mérovingienne (VIème siècle après Jésus Christ).Ces bagues ont pour la plupart été retrouvées en Gaule, enfouies dans les tombes de femmes mérovingiennes appartenant à la haute aristocratie. On appelait ces bagues « bagues de la foi ».
Au XVIème et XVIIème siècle, on retrouva également des alliances juives datant du Moyen Age, ornées d’un petit édifice qui symbolise à la fois la nouvelle maison du couple et le temple de Jérusalem détruit.
The first architectural rings were discovered dating to the Merovingian period (6th century A.D.). These rings were primarily found in Gaul, buried in the tombs of Merovingian women belonging to the high aristocracy. These rings were called "bagues de la foi" (or "faith rings").
In the 16th and 17th centuries, Jewish wedding rings were also found dating from the Middle Ages, decorated with a small building that symbolized both the couple's new home and the destroyed temple in Jerusalem.

View the "fortified village", "log cabin" (a la Aspen), "monastery", "New York" and more here.

I need one of these

2010-06-29T16:58:00.000-07:00

Don't we all?

"Hug" Salt & Pepper shakers from Soutbank Centre.

2010-06-28T11:20:00.000-07:00

The Gnawa Festival may have just ended (*sigh*) but art continues to adorn the beautiful seaside city of Essaouira. Trolling through Flickr, I found the street graffiti art of Christian Guemy (a.k.a. C215), a French painter who travels the world adorning the streets of Delhi, Rome, Sao Paulo or Brooklyn.

S.A.S. : Why faces?
C215 : "Faces reflect the personnality, you can even read a full life on a marked face. I guess that a lot people never meet tramps because they don’t pay attention to them. They have been fascinating me for a long time. You have to be very courageous to accept such a tough life. I paint in the streets people really belonging to the streets: tramps, but also beggars, street orphans from the poorest countries. This is a stencil tradition by the way."

S.A.S. : Saw some stencils from New Delhi – amazing stuff. Do you work with different styles and themes in different countries?
C215 : "Context is the most important thing in street art. The only thing I never change is my logo. There should be a stencil for each situation. Reproduce the same stencil everywhere should be boring, no?"

-excerpt from an interview with Street Art Stockholm.

Here I've clipped several of his works in Essouira. The full set is here.

Ferka 16 - bags with poetry

2010-06-24T15:30:00.000-07:00

Farka 16 branches out from their line of t-shirts into bags. Still combining Arabic poetry with her bold graphic designs, Jacqueline Bejani has brought out this line of 4 different eye-catching totes that are still simple enough to carry groceries in.

And with the low Euro right now, these bags are a pretty steal for those of you carrying dollars!

Lalla Links

2010-06-17T21:43:00.000-07:00

The Style Files features a beautiful, laid-back summer villa in Ibiza.

Image courtesy The Style Files.

...love Maegan does a kaftan roundup and another awesome DIY statement necklace.

Iran is a nation of poets. Don't believe me? Check out these original bumper "stickers".

'In the name of love, man's most beautiful mistake.'

Image courtesy Payvand.com.

And adding to my reasons to give daily thanks for the existence of Creative Roots, a post on the first printing press in the Middle East*. (Hint: think cedars...)

*Originally posted at 29 Letters.

Image courtesy Creative Roots & 29 Letters.

Global Civic Pride

2010-06-10T13:33:00.000-07:00

From Astana to Vilnius, passing through Hradec Králové, CitID is a global design project for the creation of city "identity" through font and graphics. Their goal is to have representations from every country in the world (and more ambitiously, every city).

"A city is a place where there is no need to wait for next week to get the answer to a question, to taste the food of any country, to find new voices to listen to and familiar ones to listen to again."
-Margaret Mead

Here're a few of my fav designs.

Naples

Florence

Bordeaux

Source: The always surprising Creative Roots

I heart people

2010-06-05T17:46:00.001-07:00

This must be one of the most memorable proposals ever.

Good thing she said yes!

(P.S. I'll resume posting regularly in a few days, so come back real soon now, ya'll hear?)

One can dream...

2010-05-11T15:20:00.000-07:00

"Obama, please phone the Muslim 'street vendor hero' too"

Professor Hamid Dabashi addresses an open letter to President Obama about the NY "street vendor heroes" -including a Somali man- who alerted police to the Times Square bomb threat earlier this month.

New York (CNN) -- "Dear Mr. President: How good of you, sir, to have personally telephoned two New York heroes whose timely diligence prevented a lunatic from causing a catastrophe in Times Square.

We New Yorkers are happy to hear you called Mr. Lance L. Orton Sr. and Mr. Duane Jackson to thank them for their vigilance. But there is a third vendor, Mr. President, whom you forgot to call. His name is Alioune B. Niass, and he is an immigrant from Somalia who said he was the first person to notice the smoking Nissan Pathfinder.
There is another reason besides fairness. Mr. Niass is a Muslim from Somalia, and some of us Muslim-Americans have a suspicion that your staff might not have brought him to your attention because the idea of a Muslim hero in New York does not quite dovetail with the stereotype..."

Link for full article.

Photo courtesy LA Times blog.

Desert Jewels & North African Art

2010-05-04T23:35:00.000-07:00

A new art exhibit featuring beautiful baubles from the Xavier Guerrand-Hermès* collection of North African jewelry opens this weekend at the Arab-American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

Conjointly with the exhibit is the book Desert Jewels, highlighting this

"jewelry from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt, along with late nineteenth- and early twentieth century photographs of North African landscapes, urban scenes, and portraits. The book blends a careful analysis of traditional North African jewelry design and Amazigh (also known as Berber) culture with dazzling images of ornate necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, and fibulae."

If you're lucky enough to go, let me know what you thought!

More info -and photos- at the NY Museum for African Arts.

*Yes, that Hermès.

Au galop

2010-05-04T03:07:00.000-07:00

Like horses? Like this photo essay from

the Magnum archives on Slate.com.

Horses on a Moroccan beach, 1973.

Nadine Labaki's film "Caramel"

2010-05-03T14:40:00.000-07:00

I resisted seeing Caramel when it first came during our International Film Festival. I thought: "a beauty salon in Beirut, a bunch of scheming women bonding over leg waxing and kvetching about men? No thanks." But I was wrong to write this film off.

Nadine Labaki's beautiful film is a vision of a woman with a deep-felt love for people and life. The women in the film -all of them- are a refreshing departure from the plastic-sheened bobblehead bimbos for which Lebanon has unfortunately become best known in the past decade. These actresses and their characters are magnificent in their elegance, passion and weakness. You easily slip into their world, like a quiet spectator seated in a corner of their pink beauty salon, and are enraptured...

Labaki likewise possesses a sense for les moments de douceur de la vie and a sense of artistic restraint indicative of true talent. In her hands emotion and passion are subtly suggested -- and all the more titillating for it -- by a wisp of hair falling across another's face, a sun-lit silhouette, a wailing car honk.

You get a real sense that this film was created for insiders already versed in the realities of daily life in Lebanon; therefore there are no didactic segues into religious sectarianism, digressions on politics or any other snares of the spider's web in which a filmaker can get stuck when trying to explain their culture to a Western audience; for this, the film retains a natural rythm and commendably respects the intelligence of viewers, no matter their background, and their ability to understand the film's many layers of meaning.

Of course any good film needs strong, relatable characters. What could have been over-acted, stock dramatis personae in the hands of lesser actors become memorable performances with this cast. There's the Muslim fiancee whose husband won't be her first time; the jilted, bitter mistress waging a one-sided battle against her man's clueless wife; a washed-up housewife/former actress desperate to get back into the biz; the not-so subtley repressed lesbian who yearns for one of her clients and most touching of all, two elderly sisters, seamstress Rose and her deranged, trash-collecting, shrill-voiced but endlessly charming sister Lili. The men occupy more peripheral roles.

This isn't high cinema and the plot itself is pretty standard, but thanks to Labaki's strong directorial vision and the characters' melancholy charm, this film that's all about the "sweetness of life that burns" is never saccharine or cloying.

Azul! Cute Berber Tees

2010-04-30T10:31:00.000-07:00

Skipping through the internet, I stumbled upon these adorable tees from Amazigh Connection, an outfit selling Berber-culture themed tshirts designed by some of the top graphic artists worldwide.

Check out this kiddie tee with a six-legged giraffe, inspired by ancient Saharan rock art, saying "Hi!" in Berber -- and spots arrayed with letters from the Tifinagh alphabet. So cute.

And the "Azabird" design featuring the Amazigh "Aza" symbol surrounded by more letters and a splash of thistles and birds in flight.

More designs for men, women and kids at Amazigh Connection -- And for you creative types out there, they're also taking submissions. ;)

Emir Abdelkader in the Good Ol' U.S.A.

2010-04-22T16:30:00.000-07:00

Imagine a world in which Americans proudly named their town after a Muslim "freedom fighter," battling against the invading armies and government of a powerful Western country that was after its resources.

Back in 1846, a group of men in central Iowa did just that.

The town of Elkader, Iowa (pop. 1,465) is named after the Algerian national hero Emir Abdel Kader, who rallied the Algerian towns and villages to fight against the French who in 1830 were invading just as Abdelkader was reaching manhood. They fought for over fifteen years.

Now, your basic primer on French colonialism* will show that though remarkably successful in the face of superior technology, Abdelkader's mission to expel the French failed, and he fled to the Middle East to pursue the honorable pastimes of poetry and diplomacy.

Something of a media darling in the international press at the time, Abdelkader was honored by Abraham Lincoln for personally saving a number of levantine Christians under attack by the Druze in Damascus, receiving a passel of guns** as a nice thank you gift.

According to this article, while some Elkaderites were a bit dismayed, after 9/11, to still see proud displays of Algerian artifacts in their local museum, all surveyed by the steady gaze of this bearded Algerian, many locals there saw it as something to be proud of.

"Abd-el-Kader was the George Washington of Algeria," Betty Walch tells visitors at the Carter House Museum. Walch stood recently in front of a display case of El-Kader memorabilia and portraits. An Algerian wool rug, sheared from a shipment of Iowa sheep sent to Algeria by a cadre of Girl Scouts, hangs on the wall. -Source

Well before then the town had already received from Algerian officials, including Abdelkader's great-great-grandson and Algerian ambassador, Idriss Jazairy, and exchanged visits with its sister city in Mascara, Algeria -- Abdelkader's birthplace.

I was floored to discover this little trivia of American heartland nomenclature , and I have Mabrouck Rachedi 's blog to thank for it.

Of course, Abdelkader is still quite popular. Just not here in the States, where, let's face it, nobody's ever heard of the guy. But there is that catchy song...And I can't even count how many Abdelkaders I met when I was a student in France. Let's just say a lot of (Franco-)Algerian mothers a few decades ago still had a lot of nationalistic feeling...

I admire the man who, to those who wanted to remove the remembrance of Elkader's past, said "'As part of the Sister City's philosophy...we should cross borders in friendship, not war.'"

I think this is something to be proud of as a part of our national history, reflective of an era when even though intolerance was common, to say the least, a number of men were open-minded enough to link their community to a Muslim man because they admired his mission to pursue freedom for his country. It gives me a lot more to be proud of than this.

*Apparently the folks at Portland International Airport are quite well versed in French colonial history.
**Some things about presidential gifts never change...

Lalla Links: Forgotten food in Turkey, Flyboy of the Deserts

2010-04-13T15:30:00.000-07:00

The New Yorker profiles one Turkish chef's quest to unearth Turkey's forgotten food - watch a video here, or log in for the full article.

Meanwhile, staff journalist Lauren Collins reaches new heights, traveling to the deserts of Algeria to "hang out" with aerial photographer George Steinmetz in his "flying lawn chair" paraglider. (Prepare yourself for some breath-snatching photography.)

Image courtesy New York Times.

Turkophile Benz Ad

2010-04-07T14:02:00.000-07:00

Loving this ad by Mercedes-Benz, spotted on the back of the latest issue of Cornucopia Magazine* -- a great read for lovers of all things Turkish. Gorgeous photos.

The latest edition has a special article on Ottoman music (including lute making), intricate medieval carvings, the return of the radish and other roots, and a striking 3 page look at beautiful latter-day Ottoman clothing soon on display at the Sadberk Hanim Museum.

Entaris and more on display in Istanbul.

*(subtitled: "Turkey for Connoisseurs").

All images courtesy Cornucopia Magazine.

Breaking News: Morocco Now Officially Part of Europe

2010-03-29T19:39:00.000-07:00

It might make some Swiss people gnaw more holes into their cheese, but I have it on expert authority that Morocco is now -officially- a part of Europe. The U.N. has yet to be informed, but if you listen closely, you can hear the cheers from here as thousands of Moroccans learn that their dream of becoming Europeans has been made official with one fell swipe of a compatriot's credit card at the Portland International Airport.

According to the good folks at Delta Airlines, who today charged my friends $50 -each- for their additional suitcases as they checked in for their 17 hour flight to Casablanca, the Cherifian Kingdom is indisputably considered a European country by them.

Well aware of the new flight restrictions, my friends had double-checked Delta's website over a week ago to confirm the number of luggage they could check in for an international flight. All signs seemed to indicate one bag-- unless you happened to read the fine print of the fine print. My husband, however, found the two lines of small print at the very bottom that indicated that international travelers* are entitled to the more reasonable two bags of luggage**.

So our friends resolutely set off to the airport at 4:30 a.m., confident in their quantity of duffels, only to be told by the lady behind the counter that Morocco is, in fact, considered a part of Europe and that they would therefore be charged additional baggage fees. Wisely, our friends had brought along the print out of Delta's webpage explaining the exception to the baggage rules.

Nevertheless, the Delta staff of Portland is far more educated in world geography than their website content writers. The manager was called over and, after a few moments of tense scrutiny of my friends, their print out, and their tickets, this wise man had his eureka moment when he recalled --surely from some dim memory of high school history class-- that Morocco had once-upon-a-time been a French colony. Thus, it could be considered a part of France (someone please inform President Sarkozy) and therefore Delta was justified in charging my friends for their extra bags. The manager even insisted that this particular exception to geographical boundaries was printed on the Delta webpage. As in so many other ways, Morocco is clearly the exception to the exception to the rule.

Not to be beaten so easily, our normally withdrawn and passive friend politely but firmly informed these two wayward geographers that all such claims to French sovereignty and territoriality were moot as of 1956 and the Moroccan independence, and that the last time he'd checked the map, Morocco was indeed still a part of the African continent. Clearly, Delta operates using a different map, because my friends were still forced to pony up the moolah they'd planned on spending on harira and chebakiyyah in Jemaa El Fna.

During their stopover in New York our friends called to regale us with this seriocomic escapade which adds insult to intelligence to the varied pleasures of air travel: full-body scans, over-salted peanuts, and the surprisingly regular "random" selection of folks of complexions a touch darker than peaches-n-cream***. Incensed, my husband got on the horn on our friends’ behalf and placed a call to Delta; he spent 24 minutes on the phone with the customer service rep as the latter tried in vain to locate the manager's purported fine print of Morocco's inclusion amongst the blessed lands of Europa. Finally, my husband was transferred to an "Website Navigation Specialist" who conceded after only a few more minutes that, indeed, Morocco is a part of Africa.

Thank god my friends had the forethought to print out Delta's webpage, otherwise they might've let themselves be bullied into not only paying the extra charges (which they intend to dispute upon their return Stateside), but worse, into believing what I can only surmise (through past experience with airport personnel) the Delta staff must've thought of them: that they were ignorant immigrants with accented English who couldn't possibly know better than the well-trained people at Delta. The belittlement of immigrants, even unintended, is a common occurrence amongst the so-called professionals of the service, hospitality and travel industries. I wouldn’t be too upset if airport staff received a tenth of cultural-sensitivity training (i.e. “how not to insult the intelligence of people from other backgrounds than yours”) in additional to all that “10 ways to spot a terrorist” coaching I assume they receive.

*Other than to Europe, Australia, Canada, Latin America and Puerto Rico.
**Quite necessary as, like many immigrants returning home, Moroccans tend to visit their families laden with gifts that usually take up 1/2 to 3/4 of the luggage.
***My husband is always randomly selected when he flies; on our last trip we actually made it all the way to the boarding ramp without being selected until an African-American woman asked him to step aside. As she waved the metal detector around his body, he commented that he seemed to get such special treatment a lot, the lady just replied with a smile "it's because you're so handsome" before letting us get on the plane. That must explain it.

Image courtesy Gojko.

More Middle Eastern graphic design

2010-02-09T08:17:00.000-08:00

By happy coincidence I saw this post over at Creative Roots yesterday.

Image by Iranian designer Farshad Alekhamis.
Dig the graffiti font.

English-Arabic graphic design: Talib Type

2010-02-07T03:13:00.000-08:00

A buddy of mine once told me he thought Arabic script looked like someone had taken a sharpie and held it against a wall while driving along side it on a motorcycle (this from a guy learning to speak and write Chinese...) -- interesting mental images aside, people do seem to be fascinated with Arabic scripts, the way the letters connect or stand alone, the beauty of their symmetry or the way they can be rendered into such emotive calligraphy.

There are lots of fonts available in Arabic now, but few that hybridize the Latin script with an Arabic or Persian aesthetic; now the guys behind Talib Type, however, have devoted their talents to designing three fonts in what they style an "intercultural type research project... exploring the effect of globalization on contemporary global graphic design."

I love the way they've kept the integrity of the form by joining letters together and maintaining what my Arabic professor (and a dabbling calligrapher) once explained to me was the "essential element of harmonious balance" in the script...

"The aim was to show an experimental possibility of merging two different visual styles by creating three Latin fonts with an Arabic 'look and feel'. It all started out when we transferred our headquarters to Cairo, Egypt for about one year.

"Throughout the project, we created three fonts based on three different Arabic styles which influenced or inspired us the most: Naskh [used for many publications and all kinds of media; one of the most known Arabic scripts in the world], Kufi [often used for architectural designs, decorations and inscriptions] and the modern Arabic linear fonts."

Q: How did you come up with the name of the font?
"Talib is Arabic for "seeker of knowledge, student". As a graphic designer you have to be open minded, constantly sucking in all impressions from your environment, constantly "seeking for knowledge", especially when working intercultural."

And they turned it all into a book about contemporary Arab and Persian graphic design: Arabesque. Sweet!

Watch a clip from the designers' sejour in Egypt and their thoughts on the project. (Click on "motion content.")

All images courtesy Talib Type.

Lalla Links: Subway dogs, Gypsy theater, men in tights, la ilsa bonita

2010-02-03T08:15:00.000-08:00

A photo essay on Spanish torreros, some of the few men who can make lime green and fuscia capes look macho. (Via Creative Roots, images courtesy Jeff Martin.)

Loving this print of a sleepy Menorca fishing village by graphic artist Alice Stevenson (seen at Design*Sponge).

How about this fascinating recent article from the Financial Times on the street dogs of Moscow who've learned to take the subway to patrol their territories? (Image source)

Or a slightly older FT article on a gypsy theater troupe in Seville, composed entirely of illiterate gypsy women, that is marveling audiences from all levels of society (from the geriatric cashmere-sweater set to university students and fellow Rom), drawn to the gypsy encampment outside the city to watch the women perform. And it's not just any piece of theater they're performing either: with brio and an innate sense of they play's essence, these women are interpreting one of Gabriel Garcia Lorca's last plays. Best of all, the experience has empowered these women.
It tours Spain in February.

Review: The Grand Mosque of Paris

2010-02-01T01:17:00.000-08:00

"Yesterday at dawn, the Jews of Paris were arrested. The old, the women, and the children. In exile like ourselves, workers like ourselves. They are our brothers. Their children are like our own children. The one who encounters one of his children must give that child shelter and protection for as long as misfortune - or sorrow - lasts. Oh, man of my country, your heart is generous."- A tract read to immigrant Algerian workers in Paris, asking them to help shelter Jewish children.

With the title page depicting the green-tiled roof of the Grande Mosquee de Paris rising out of the hazy purpled skyline at the moment of Paris' magical heure bleue, this children's book heralds a singular location in the City of Light where small and great acts of kindness occurred amidst the dark deeds of WWII's Nazi-occupied France.

While this image may be enough to make a few Swissmen run for their verdant, cow-dotted hills, The Grand Mosque of Paris: A Story of How Muslims Rescued Jews During the Holocaust (by Karen Ruelle & Deborah DeSaix) is a singular work of children's non-fiction that ought to be better known.

Both beautifully illustrated and well-researched, the story, drawn from first- and second-hand accounts, brings to light the many risks undertaken by Paris' Muslim community --predominantly from North Africa-- to protect the lives of Jews (particularly children, Resistance fighters and others from being taken by the Nazis.

Though text heavy, the writing is clear and vivid enough to be understood by middle-school and the accounts and details that are sometimes astonishing: how people were smuggled out of the mosque via Paris' subterranean tunnels, into empty wine caskets loaded on barges and then down the Seine to the relative safety to the south; how the mosque's administration, under the guidance of its rector, Si Kaddour Benghabrit, an Algerian-born diplomat and playwright, provided falsified Muslim identification papers for an estimated 100 Jews in order to save them from being whisked off to the concentration camps.

Ruelle tells of how the Kabyle Berber dialect of Algeria was used amongst occupation resisters to communicate messages and arrange smuggling operations to remove people from the city; or how the Nazis, suspicious that there might be Jews hidden in the mosque, would come "to visit;" while they respectfully took off their heavy military boots before entering, the mosque's rector would sound an alarm in another part of the mosque, providing an opportunity for the refugees to hide in the women's prayer room, where the Germans dared not enter.

The pages are full of many other stories and anecdotes of average people performing magnanimous acts, each accompanied by illustrations that give a true sense of the tension and unease of the era -- often within the settings of the beautifully rendered interiors or architectural details of the mosque.

The Grand Mosque of Paris is a moving tale for children (and adults -- I learned quite a lot!) of events in our shared human history that still affect our world today. It also adds another dimension to the tales of courage in the face of the Holocaust, one far less known and discussed, I believe, due to more recent political antagony. I hope this book becomes widely translated and read outside North America, for I feel the author and illustrator have not only done a marvelous job bringing this subject to life in a manner accessible to children, but have also made an important contribution to interfaith understanding and brought greater nuance to our accepted narratives of historical events.

For more information on this subject, visit:

The Mosque that Sheltered Jews

The Holocaust's Arab Heroes

A biography of Si Benghabrit [Fr] - with lots of photos

Fashion Friday: Ferka 16

2010-01-22T06:38:00.000-08:00

I get so many compliments on this shirt. It's caused middle-aged men to stop in their tracks and spontaneously burst into poetry.

My husband literally had someone try to smooth-talk him into trading for it, while he was wearing it. At one event, it even got the one-word approval of the ever-fickle teenage crowd.

The design is by French-Lebanese artist and graphic designer Jacqueline Bejani, the talent behind Ferka 16, ("Squad 16") a line of high-quality hoodies, tees and tunics for men and women, combining classic Arabic texts with modern design and urban style.

Ferka 16 's philosophy lies in utilizing “the exceptional lines of famous poets as well as young and modern writers and everyday expressions to send you a message of tolerance, unity and strength.”

The shirt (see above) my husband and I have [read: "fight over who gets to wear" (they're intended to be unisex)] features two lines by the renowned medieval Iraqi poet Al-Mutanabbi (or the "gangster rapper" of the era, as my husband likes to say, in that Mutannabi boasts both of his erudition, smarts, and skills with the sword and the ladies [the quest to be a lover and a fighter is surely a timeless one, after all...]).

The poem goes:

"The desert knows me well, the night and the mounted men...the battle and the sword, the paper and the pen know me."

Jacqueline kindly responded to a few questions about her design process and her inspiration for her designs:

Famous proverb:

"If you happen to see the lion's teeth, don't think he's smiling at you."

Q: What is your design process?
A: First I choose the poems I want to use and then an image begins to form over the course of several weeks, enough time to get it just right.

The choice of an uplifting poem (note the bird soaring between the lines of poetry) by the great modern Tunisian poet, Abou el Kacem Chebbi, for this shirt:
(See Ferka16's site for the full translation.)

Q: What does the Ferka16 line express through its designs?
A: I think these t-shirts offer a youthful, convivial, open, and vibrant image of Arab culture. My idea is to create a simple and popular product. [But I also] see it as a long term project, allowing different designers, poets, writers and artists to participate in this project and create a certain artistic dynamic.

And I love the script on this one:

Which says simply: "Hope, anger, star, patience, person"

Q: Where did the idea of making your line of t-shirts originate?

A: I had the idea of making these t-shirts so that my kids, who were born in France, might be able to appreciate the grandeur of Arab poetry, which is truly magnificent ! (It’s also a good way to understand something about the Arab spirit.) But it also came from a reflection upon beauty! That of Arab beauty, which is never highlighted.

In Europe there’s a certain wariness about all things Arab, but I also believe that this wariness also exists amongst ourselves! Most of all, I wish that Arabs would be as happy and proud to wear an image that reflects their own culture as they would an American or European image that they already think is cool and meaningful.

The shirts are of very high quality cotton and the printing is bold and bright -- even more so than in the pictures. Check out the full line -- including women's styles, on the site.

For more on Al-Mutanabbi (including audio recitations of his poetry), see here. And for more information about the line & designer, check out this longer interview with Jacqueline from Now Lebanon.

All images courtesy Ferka16.

A new look for "Lalla Lydia"

2010-01-21T04:26:00.000-08:00

I'm working on a new design for the blog and would love your input! Take this poll or leave a comment about ideas you'd like to see for Lalla Lydia's forthcoming new look!

Electric oud, anyone?

2010-01-19T04:42:00.000-08:00

Don't you love how all those "related videos" on the sidebar of youtube can lead you to something wonderful and unexpected?

Yesterday morning our day started slowly, over coffee, with some rare winter sunlight pouring into our living room. As we sipped our coffee my husband played a beloved Fairuz song...which led us to an enjoyable flamenco-Lebanese performance of "Janaat" by oudist Wadih el Safi and guitarist Jose Fernandez, before YT's algorithms lead us to... DuOud!

Parisian duo Jean-Pierre Smadj and Mehdi Haddab combine electronic oud with accoustic and a whole lot of electronica. The two musicians draw from their backgrounds as sound engineer and trained jazz musicians, as well as their North African heritage, to create music that's more than just fusion. They've really made "classical" oud music rock!

If you've heard them play, drop me a line and tell me what you thought.

Vanity Fair does Qaddafi

2010-01-18T01:56:00.000-08:00

First it was the New York Times commenting on the sartorial choices of North Africa's kookiest leaders -- now Vanity Fair has a special slide show, replete with (admittedly funny) zingers and jabs -- and not just about the clothes.

What do you think, "billboard medal plaques" as the next accessory trend for 2010?
After statement necklaces come...statement regalia!

See my older posts on the fashion statement of Qaddafi Jr. meeting Hillary Clinton, and the general's elite corps of female body guards.

First image UPI/Landov, second by Andrew Heavens/Reuters/Corbis, via Vanity Fair.

The New Yorker on Arabic Literature

2010-01-13T03:46:00.000-08:00

"Found in Translation" is a marvelous new essay on literature from the Arab world by Claudia Roth Pierpont in the New Yorker. (And lucky you, there's an audio essay, too!)

With a lead-in like:

"The ways that people think and work and suffer and fall in love and make enemies and sometimes make revolutions is the stuff of novels, and Arabic novels, while not yet lining the shelves of the local bookstore, have been increasingly available in English translation, offering a marvellous array of answers to questions we did not know we wanted to ask. On such subjects as: the nature of the clientele of the elegantly crumbling pre-Islamist bars in downtown Cairo, straight and gay (“The Yacoubian Building,” by Alaa Al Aswany); what it felt like to live through the massacre in the Shatila refugee camp, in 1982, and how some of the people who still live there have been managing since (“Gate of the Sun,” by Elias Khoury); the optimal tactics that a good Saudi girl should use to avoid being married off, which appear to require that she study either medicine or dentistry (“Girls of Riyadh,” by the twenty-something Rajaa Alsanea, who has herself completed an advanced degree in endodontics). There is clearly insight as well as information in these books. And then, considering the reduced size and the volatility of the world we share, we might recall the essential lesson of a very old Arabic book that everyone knows, “The Thousand and One Nights”—that stories can have the power to save your life."

and snappy reviews of so many different authors' work, I've just added at least six more titles to an already long list of "must reads".

There are some marvelous publishers in the U.S. and the U.K. of Arabic novels (or novels by Middle Eastern/North African authors) in translation. My three favorites are

Interlink Books

Saqi Books

and Europa Editions

Pierpont's essay has convinced me that I must, finally, read The Yacoubian Building ... though at this rate, I'll still probably get to the film first before the book.(Anyone else read it yet?)

Tickity-tock: Moroccan tilework clock

2010-01-12T05:33:00.000-08:00

Another one for my folie for all things zellij:

A deconstructed tilework-pattern clock in your choice of positive/negative black or white.

J'aime bien le bleu.

By designer Mostapha El Ouhlani at Dar en Art. Check it out for more great contemporary design from Morocco.

Contemporary Qahwa: turkish coffee goes modern

2010-01-11T01:24:00.000-08:00

It's high time to add ibriks, or traditional Turkish coffee makers to the list of modern takes on traditional Middle Easter serving equipment (see older posts: samovar, narghile/chicha, and another Turkish coffee set).

Here then, for your daily dose of go-juice, is an architectural take on the ibrik (see a traditional cevze here), from Italian design firm Sawaya & Moroni, whose full line exhibits the founders' architectural leanings in design.

Source: Archiblogue

Lalla Essaydi: kalamat an-nisa'

2009-11-25T04:10:00.000-08:00

Lalla Essaydi plays with words. And silence.

Though her work speaks volumes, it leaves me speechless.

She combines the art of "women's" henna with what she calls the "masculine" art of Arabic calligraphy in a process that can take weeks to realize, while the artist and her helpers work ceaselessly, applying the henna to fabric, walls, body...

You can "read" her work in so many ways...Words thought but left unsaid, words unspoken but visible to all, women's multi-layered meanings. Outspokeness in societies, both Western and Islamic, that have often silenced women.

I feel Essaydi is examining her self and her culture(s), prism-like through her photography and art - she portrays the stereotype of the silent, veiled Arab woman, the strong-spirited woman, the languid odalisque of Western fantasy, the multi-generational ties between women; images that break and uphold convention. I think her work is magnificent.

All the more so when you understand how much of it is "performance" art in collaboration with those in the frame. The setting is equally intriguing. Essaydi says the house in Morocco where she creates her art and photographs belongs to her family.

"Until fairly recently, my work was preoccupied with this physical space, for it is to here, to this house, that a young woman was sent when she disobeyed, stepped outside the permissible space.

Accompanied by servants, but spoken to by no one, she would spend a month here alone.

Thus the house is both a literal and a psychological space, a space marked by memory." - LS Converging Territories

Her latest book of art photography, Les femmes du Maroc, is a collaboration with noted (and dear to my heart) Moroccan feminist and sociologist Fatema Mernissi. Just based on some of the images I've seen, I find it even more challenging of orientalist depictions of women, with images imbued with both serenity and confrontation.

I can only await patiently until I get my hands on a copy and am able to devour Essaydi and Mernissi's words with my own eyes.

Marakesh Xanthe also has a lovely post on the artist and her work.

All images copyright Lalla Essaydi.

Bosphorus "Billie Jean" - Dolapdere Big Gang

2009-11-24T20:49:00.000-08:00

He had me at "zithers, Turko-Roma musicians and cover hits."

Heard this radio piece today on the cover band Dolapdere Big Gang, a band from Istanbul who covers the greatest hits with a Turkish twist...

Sound schticky?
Not at all.
They're quite good.

They've made these hits into their own thing, and frankly, that's impressive when you're covering Michael Jackson...

Selections are mostly drawn from the 80s (no surprise: they all look to be in their early thirties) - the singer eerily sounds very much like Phil Collins in this rendition of Another Day in Paradise.

Check out "An Englishman in New York," too (great vistas of Istanbul)...I think you'll be as pleasantly surprised as I was.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T19:50:00.000-07:00

Punk'd a la francaise, grace à Remi Gaillard. Enjoy!

LOL Lighting

2009-10-26T15:23:00.000-07:00

Not the usual topics but I couldn't resist...

(Rien à voir avec les sujets normalement vus sur ce blog, mais qui pourrait resister à cette p’tite touche fantaisiste?)

You know those people's houses when you go to visit them, and they've paid so much attention to detail? The light switchplates coordinate with the color of the mantel or a stripe in the pillows and the whole place seems in harmony with a touch of whimsy?

This is like that:

For all of you who always forget to turn off the lights, your appliances may soon start taking over, watch out!

Found at The Play Coalition.

Lights out!

Couture does Berber Bling

2009-10-14T07:56:00.000-07:00

A post on Luxist that was picked up by the Doneger Group (those faceless people who decree that you and I and everyone else are all going to be wearing orange and chartreuse with grey stripes come Spring 2011) highlights how recent couture fashion has (once again) been co-opting traditional Middle Eastern garb as high fashion.

Some designers (Givenchy here, my dears) didn't even mull things over too long before simply ripping off traditional pseudo-Gulf bedouin togs to slink down its runways.

Then comes the Berber fibula-cum-military jacket lapel pin-cum-jinglejangle chemise and harem jodhpurs.

What, no fez?

And an outfit Lady Liberty herself might select for her social debut:

But that's not all. Remember Ralph Lauren's crazy collection from a few seasons ago? All that yuppie-safari hit the runway the same month as the 2008 economic crash. (And, ever with an ironic finger on the nation's pulse and pocket, the good people at RL inc. went for the po' boy look for 2010...I can't deny the man's business acumen, I admire him for it, but there must be a way to find middle ground between NY-safari fantasy and boxcar hopping...And fashion, i.e. $300 faded overalls, as a projection of our times is a dismal forecast for economic recovery...)

In what is surely a stock Indiana Jones plot, RL rolled out a biplane-flying heroine who recovers artifacts with the aid of her gold lame parachute (pants)...

The evil SS femme fatales disguised as mysterious European archeologists skulk around stealing state secrets in ostrich-hide hat boxes and trench coat pockets...

While the natives with major toothaches watch, blasé, from their hovels...

And the naively innocent colonel's wife tries not to develop a secret desire to ditch her pith helmet for our heroine's satiny camp shirt. Then she goes off for a pleasant afternoon of lion-shooting and tea.

Seriously, did this collection's designer get fired from the Spielberg studio and head to Manhattan?

At least one major designer did some good interpreting "Middle Eastern" wear:

the resort 2010 collection ran a strange gamut from from ingenue Coco/Edith Piaf to these beauties:
Beautiful beautiful takes on the perennial caftan. Well done.

(His Spring 2010 collection, however, showed some ominous signs of imitating RL's...

And an even scarier use of the Spanish mantilla as headscarf...

(Cute braids though. )

French Chic meets Moroccan Cool at Dar Seven

2009-10-12T08:48:00.000-07:00

The sumptuously understated guest house Dar Seven in Marrakesh, owned by a certain Italian prince and princess, is a study in muted tones that manages to be both riche and yet comfortable.

I know some balk at taking traditional riads in Morocco and Tunisia, gutting them and modernizing or westernizing them, but I truly find Dar Seven to be a well-executed blend of hotel and home.

It seems Dar Seven's style is very much what West Elm and Elle Decor have been aspiring to in recent months, and it's most unique features in my opinion are those tonal stripes, eye-soothing neutral solid colors (quite a change from the eye-poppinglingly colorful ochres, greens, browns and blues of Marrakesh!) and vague east Asian influence in furniture and what Frasier Crane would pursingly ooze "objets d'aaaarts..." but what you and I might call nick-nacks.

"Mr and Mrs. Smith" wrote their own review in the Telegraph, and decreed:

"a colour palette more Ralph Lauren than Moroccan riad. Utterly tranquil, magnificently chic."
True, true.

They certainly thought it was worth the trek through the winding medina (but then, there is much in this world worth those peregrinations through narrow, twisting streets).

A friend of mine just loathes this monochrome look, "institutional and bland" she says; for her Morocco is all about the colors. In sparser settings with less attention to detail I might agree, but to me this space softly murmurs: "quiet escape into beauty", a change from the oft-seen "wildly polychromatic exotic getaway with camels!". Emphasis on the camels, for some...

Maybe they'll add a zen rock garden to the roof*?

Several sites offer booking info, I learned about it through Morocco Gateway. But why not create your own version at home?

Now where are those cans of beige paint?

*That would be too much, wouldn't it?

Issaquah - Chefchaouen: Sister Cities

2009-10-01T20:42:00.000-07:00

If you happen to be near Seattle this weekend, stop by the Issaquah Salmon Days Festival to meet and observe two Moroccan artisans and greet the mayor of Chefchaouen, Issaquah's sister-city in Morocco (!!).

"-Mostafa Dennouch, of Marrakech, is a premier wood artist who creates masterpieces of geometric patterns. Sometimes the work is encrusted or inlaid with different pieces of wood or metal.

-Driss Essakhi, of Fes, is a metal crafter. His work includes a diverse range of metal art pieces that are ornately decorated with geometric patterns and inlaids, such as jewelry, utensils, silverware, brassware, statues and wrought iron.

During Salmon Days, the artists will be displaying and producing their artwork at the corner of East Sunset Way and Rainier Boulevard South. The artists will also be demonstrating their crafts at local Issaquah schools during their visit.

In addition, we welcome Mayor Sefiani of Chefchaouen who will be featured in the Salmon Days Festival Parade, beginning at 10am on Saturday, October 3rd."