This post is not intended to be a travelogue per se; the intent is to record some experiences and insights during and after my travels and more importantly to acknowledge some of the beautiful people and personalities that I met and grew friendships with along the way.
It has been a long and uneventful flight. I had spent the 24 hours of flight time ‘wisely’ between sleeping, in-flight entertainment and flight meals; however, my attempts to go over the recommended reading materials again prior to landing in Morocco had been largely unsuccessful. Before this journey I had not met the organizer or the other fellow artist selected for this tour; and as the plane circled around Muhammad V airport, Casablanca, I was overwhelmed with mixed emotions of diffidence and excitement of what lay ahead for me.
My ‘Rekindling Tour’ journey started back in January 2018, with an email out of nowhere from someone who I hardly knew. A curator and an academic from Perth who studied Islamic art was putting together a grant to take a small number of artists to Morocco for training in Islamic arts and wanted to know if I was interested. She had come across my work done for SalamFest through the grapevine of social media and thought that I fulfilled the requirements for the grant.
Thrilled, honored and deeply humbled by this chance occurrence, I promptly conceded.
Hamida Novakovich who is an independent curator, writer and academic was the driving force behind the Rekindling: An Australian Artisans Tour of Morocco project. She and her team (Professor Samina Yasmeen & Azim Zahir) at The Center for Muslim States and Societies (CMSS), University of Western Australia, initiated this project with an aim to establish ongoing links between emerging Australian artists and Masters of Islamic Art in Morocco. The intent of the project was to provide Australian artists an opportunity to visit and train under Master Artisans, to learn new skills in traditional Islamic arts and,upon their return, disseminate the acquired knowledge to the community through innovative community art projects.The tour was funded by The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Council for Australian Arab Relations. The grant applications and processing, selection of Australian artist, coordination of flights and accommodation in Morocco and more importantly planning and coordination of activities with local masters were all done through CMSS. The challenges involved in coordinating artist from different states, art experiences and backgrounds and developing a program that fits all requirements and expectations cannot be understated and the Rekindling Tour organizing committee deserves high praise for putting together such a remarkable program.
The artist selected for the tour came from three different states. Tusif Ahmed and Osama Mah joined us from Perth (WA), Niccy Pallant from Adelaide (SA) and Zahrah Habibullah, Majdi Faleh and I were from Melbourne (VIC).
Our artistic and professional backgrounds were equally varied. Tausif has a software development and jewellery design background and is a paper cutting artist par excellence. Osama has a digital graphic design and animation background; he is a philosopher, practicing calligraphist and a digital artist. Niccy has an arts education and teaching background; she is a print maker and a visual artist and also conducts workshops in sacred geometry and leather embossing. Zahrah is a professional photographer and artist, specializing in jewellery design and metal works. Majdi recently obtained his PhD in architecture focusing on Islamic design and practices geometric art, and I have a mechanical engineering background and dabble in visual and community arts.
The Rekindling Team
The Journey Begins
Situated in Northwest of Africa, Morocco has been at the cross roads of history and presents an interesting mix of Berber, Arab, Islamic, Christian, Jewish and European traditions.
The first stop in the Rekindling tour was Fez. This city was founded in early 9th century by the Idrissi dynasty; they are also credited for establishing the University of Al-Qarawiyyin which is the oldest existing, continually operating higher educational institution in the world. In early 12th century Fez was considered to be one of the largest cities in the world and gained a reputation for its religious scholarship and as a hub for trade and commerce.
My first memories of this city are intertwined with the clattering sound of suitcase wheels on the cobbled stone streets of medina as the group dragged our luggage from Blue Gate (‘Bab Boujlood’) via narrow winding streets to the multilevel house; the ‘Dar ’that was to be our residence in Fez.Our hotel ‘Dar Arsama’; was managed by a Spanish visual artist- Violeta Caldres and her Moroccan, handyman husband - Adil. Violeta and Adil had painstakingly restored an old house over four years to convert it to a residential hotel. Beautifully decorated and immaculately maintained with examples of traditional Moroccan tile designs and furnishings, in addition to Violeta’s own contemporary works on the walls, the house give a surreal feel.
Appearances can be deceiving, and I believe in no place is this statement truer then in Morocco’s medinas. Chaotic or maze like from a ‘western’ viewpoint for urban planning, the medina’s were designed to provide a sustainable space keeping in mind the ideals for the short and long term well being of the community. The city’s compact and dense fabric of housing, streets, thoroughfares and open spaces allowed people to practice their trade and live in the city without being exposed to physical and human harm.
Our first workshop was at Craft Draft studios with Hamza El Fasiki. Hamza is a social entrepreneur, musician, author and an academic. He took over his family craft business from his father; who is a master craftsman and chair of the guild and founded Craft Draft studios with an aim to restore people’s connections to the traditional crafts. The studio provides an opportunity to learn and share the traditional arts by inviting both locals and foreigners to become apprentices and experience firsthand the traditional tools and techniques used by the artisans.
The great Muslim philosopher Imam Al-Ghazali stated “Four traits lift a person to the highest ranks, even if their works and knowledge are little: forbearance, humility, generosity, and good character”.
The traditional artisan journey from apprentice to the master, instil these principles. Children as young as 6 or 7 years old would join the crafts workshop as apprentices. For the first 2 years they would only observe their Master’s work, then gradually be taught to hold tools and learn simple menial task and then actually introduced to the creative crafts. It took up to 10-12 years of learning to replicate the designs and another few to become a certified Master (maâlem) craftsman recognized by the Guild. This learning process was designed to develop apprentice skills as well as the inner self (Nafs). The aim was to develop humility and character in the students as they venture forward in life to become master craftsmen and contributing members of the society.
The workshops at Fez with Hamza were intriguing and introduced us to the crafts of Islamic geometric patterns, leather embossing, book binding and brass etching.
While in Fez, we also visited ‘Culture Vultures’, an arts and culture organization situated at the market town of Sefrou. Culture Vultures produce art based socially impactful programs and activities which are facilitated by a network of local and international artist. This visit provided us an opportunity to learn about the community art projects completed by the organisation and visit local artisans involved with textile manufacturing, black smithing and garment making.
After a short hop at the Australian Embassy at Rabat, where the tour artists had opportunity to present about their works and the tour to the consul, our next stop was the coastal city of Essaouira.
Australian Embassy Morocco
Essaouira is located at the Atlantic coast and for centuries was considered one of the best anchorages of the Moroccan coast. The history of the area goes back hundreds of years when the Phoenician established a trading post in the area; since then the city has changed hands and occupied by Berbers, Romans, Arabs, Portuguese and the French. The ‘modern’ day version of the town was founded by King Mohamed III in 1760 with an aim to secure a harbor as close to Marrakech as possible and facilitate trade with Europe. Since its foundation the town has been a multicultural and multi-confessional center with people from Amazighs, Arabs, Africans, Europeans, Muslims, Christians and Jews calling it home.
In Essaouira most of the group stayed at Riad 7 Stones. This awesome hotel is part-owned by Jamaican born; American graphic artist Adellee Haley otherwise known as ‘Babylass’ and managed by Ismail Mouyahada and musician Melisa Stone. Affable and deeply engaged in her faith, Adellee is an abstract expressionist working with acrylic paints and a digital photo artist using creative computer techniques to manipulate and enhance photographs for her artwork. During our stay in the city we also had the opportunity to visit her beautiful home and studios situated outside the city, enjoy her hospitality and firsthand experience her artistic endeavors. The Raid’s manager, Ismail had an equally generous and inspiring personality. With a background in Geology, Ismail speaks several languages and had a deep insight to life. Like all things Moroccan; he had creative flair waiting to emerge. I am sure one day; given the time, resources and opportunity, he will make his mark in this field.
Our mentor in Essaouira was Imad-Eddine Dably. Imad is a musician, a traditional instrument craftsman and tradesman. He briefed us about the history of Moroccan musical instruments and taught us how to make drums. Imad coordinated and arranged tours with a number of artist and craftsman, who graciously took time out and shared their skills and give us insight to their crafts.
Mohammad Tifardine is a calligraphist par excellence. He has a unique contemporary style and has exhibited internationally including Australia. A serene and humble character, Mohammad Tifardine control over the lines and curves of the Arabic script is exceptional.His strokes are measured and yet fluid and it was a delight to see him work, let alone be taught a few skills and techniques of the trade.
Smarrai Anouar, owner of ‘Artworkshop’, is a calligraphist, sculpturer and a plaster crafter. Anouaris one of the more technology savvy local artists we met and had a number of videos and presentations about his artistic exploits to share with the group;he specialises in recycled arts and makes interesting mini-sculptures out of everyday items such as seeds, shells, copper wire etc.
A trip to ‘Had Dra’ - to explore village life in the midst of artventure or listening to drums and dance of Gnaoua music in the Raids courtyard may seemed out of place for some, but the experience added to the overall context of the artisan’s journey and greatly added to the overall culture and historic experience of the visit.
Epilogue
Our formal exploits of the Rekindling tour ended in Essaouira as some of us headed back while others stuck around to explore the country further. Reading through my scribbles and notes it is very difficult to catalog each and every experience and occurrence, as they have been so many.
Being able to interact with ‘Master’ craftsmen and artists and being able to work and sit with them in their studios was enriching on a number of levels. Understanding the art journey of a traditional craft person from a student to becoming a master was humbling and thought provoking.
As we collected around the evenings, we work-shopped various aspects of Islamic arts, shared experiences and our own personal art journeys with our contemporaries. Getting to know fellow artist and sharing their respective art journeys was enriching and provided opportunities to learn from each other’s experiences.
Being able to soak in an environment so filled with art (albeit for a short time) has been a privilege and it is difficult to describe and predict what the future impact of this tour will be on my art. I am sure as my fellow artists and I move on with our respective art journeys, what we have learnt and observed will be reflected in our works.