Recently in Culture Category

I was looking for music by Marcel Khalife and came across this video, which I found charming even if the video quality is a little uneven.

In every endeavor, there are certain people who achieve a level of excellence that clearly separates them from the ordinary participant. Such people need not be a world champion -- a Lance Armstrong, Mohammed Ali, or Michael Phelps -- but nevertheless they demonstrate a grace and proficiency that sets them apart.

For me, a handful of blogs that I read integrate words, pictures and presentation in such a skilful manner that they are truly set apart -- and, of those, one is written by an acclaimed Moroccan-American novelist. Among the rest, My Marrakesh stands out for elegant design, exquisite taste, gorgeous photography, and crisp, whimsical prose.

Part of what makes My Marrakesh so attractive is its thematic unity. The author, an expatriate American building an elegant guesthouse in cosmopolitan Marrakesh, couples a deep love of Moroccan artistry with an engaging sense of humor over the incessant minor obstacles that repeatedly arise to frustrate her would-be avocation as a hotelier. Occasionally, as in her recent photo montage of Afghan men, she permits a glimpse of the grittier life she leads professionally as an international consultant.

Mostly, however, My Marrakesh is a celebration of simple pleasure and daily beauty -- snapshots of family life, interviews with both Marrakeshis and visitors, accounts of shopping trips in Marrakesh's rich and varied markets. It presents a picture of a life varied and fulfilled, in which one can escape, though not forget, the world's troubles through an appreciation of beauty as seen by the eye of a connoisseur.

For all these reasons, it is easy to see why My Marrakesh again has my vote for Best African Blog in the 2010 Weblog Awards, and I urge anyone who visits the 2010 "Bloggies" to cast a vote for My Marrakesh.

I started playing with websites from the moment my (now defunct) dial up provider offered me 5 megabytes of web space, and I dived into blogging at about the time that Dave Winer first decided Frontier 5 could be more than an alternative script for Apple Computers and positioned it as a blog publishing tool. (I moved to Movable Type in 2003 and have never looked back). I have consistently, if intermittently, written a blog (or two) ever since, but the thing that nearly killed off my blogging habit was Facebook.

Facebook has a number of inherent advantages over a blog. First of all, it is designed primarily as a means to keep in touch with people one already knows and likes, so it have an important function apart from the kind of exchange of information for which a blog exists. Secondly, people actually read and comment upon and sometimes care about what you write on Facebook, and because they are already your friends, they are generally supportive. The blogosphere, by contrast, unless one is on the so-called "A-list" or even on the "D-list", can be kind of a cold and lonely place, one in which one is essentially shouting in the vacuum with no one to hear. This is not all a bad thing, and can actually be quite therapeutic, but it is a different experience from Facebook.

Another thing that Facebook does well is it pulls people together, at least superficially, into groups of common interest. One of the most encouraging Facebook groups I have joined is entitled "On est Juifs et on est Musulmans et on s'aime. (OJMA)." In one sense, such a group may reflect no more than a naive one-worldism that overlooks the serious rifts that exist among adherents of the three Abrahamic religions. I prefer, however, to think of the group as an expression of hope that hatred can be overcome, particular in a region -- the so-called Holy Land -- that is rife with hatred even as it purports to be a center of peace and love. This group, to which I was referred by Tunisian blogger Massir Destin, appears to be comprised largely of francophone North Africans, who have a remarkable tradition of religious tolerance stretching back even before the establishment of the legendary kingdoms of El Andalus in what is now southern Spain. This not to say that the region is without bigotry, but it has a remarkable historical record of largely not eviscerating people over religious differences. So-called Christian Europe, with its shameful record of persecution, pogroms, and ultimately the Holocaust, should take note. Suffice it to say that with number of close Muslim friends and a Jewish family, this cause comes close to home.

Finally, however, I come full circle. Because for all the virtues that have led to its explosive growth, there are a number of areas where Facebook falls short of the blogosphere. First, Facebook may be liberal, but it is not free. In the benevolent dictatorship of Facebook, the company can always shut you down. Breastfeeding mothers found that out in a hurry. True, the various companies that host blogs are also able to impose some restrictions, but one can always move, and, even, in a pinch host one's blog onself, so long as one has a computer and a high speed connection. Facebook, in contrast, has far more control over both content and its distribution than anyone has over a blog. Second, Facebook is geared toward people one knows already, functioning more sometimes as an echo chamber than a true exchange of information. Third, Facebook takes only limited advantage of the possibilities for linking information offered by the full web and the blogosphere. Finally, Facebook has an audience limited to one's "friends"; the audience in the blogosphere is potentially limited only by the number of users on the web and the efficiency of Google.

Every once in a while Twitter vindicates itself, in this case leading me to the fascinating Moroccan portal: Atlantic Connection. So far I have only just signed up and skimmed the site, but it looks quite rich.

Although perhaps only 5,000 Jews remain in Morocco, the country's rich Jewish heritage and well-preserved "heritage sites" continue to draw Jewish tourists, many of them looking to discover their roots.[Ottawa Citizen]

The D.C. Examiner warns that the monarchy may be planning sterner measures against Shiites (are there any in Morocco?) and gays. Repression makes strange bedfellows, as it were.

One of the areas in which my acquaintance with Morocco is definitely underdeveloped is Moroccan music, so I recently asked some friends to suggest some of the music and musicians of which no lover of things Moroccan should be ignorant. Since I view my blog as primarily a means of guiding and shaping my own instruction, with the hope that it may be useful to others along the way, here is Abdelhati Belkhayat. Enjoy!

Although I have cleverly managed to miss most of a celebration of Arab and Moroccan culture that will likely not be repeated in the nation's capital for another century, I did make it down to the Kennedy Center for a panel at which Moroccan-American author Laila Lalami read and discussed a passage from her new novel, Secret Son, due to be released officially in April. (I was ecstatic to obtain a pre-release copy, which is now at the top of my reading list.) Lalami's reading was characteristically incisive, at once exposing hypocrisy without forgoing compassion for human frailty. (A man worried about the behaviour of his daughter in America is introduced for the first time to the illegitimate son he did know he had fathered.) The consensus of the panel generally (although there were some marked differences) seemed to be that the primary concern of art was art, but the infusion of an Arab sensibility into the mainstream of American consciousness could not fail to enrich the perspective of both Americans and Arabs to the benefit of both.

Abdelilha Boukili pointed me to an excellent piece by the BBC on the difficulties faced by single mothers in Morocco as a result of social ostracism. While this piece focused particularly on the suffering of the mothers, the suffering of their children is often even more compelling. A double standard for male and female sexuality is by no means unique to Morocco, but its consequences for Morocco are starkly demonstrated here.

Laila Lalami speaks on NPR about the importance of maintaining artistic integrity in the creative process, even if the demands of governments or the marketplace force one to make compromises after a work is completed.

The View from Fez has an interesting piece on the future of the hammam ("Turkish bath") in the Mediterranean. So far, it appears to be holding its own in Morocco, despite being studied by the EU.

Happy breaking of the fast to all my Muslim friends and readers.

My entry for Simply Moroccan's competition:*

wili, wili, wili
3mra rasi fi khnona; j'ai vraiment mal à la tête.
wa fi kershi, farasha.
tbeeb qrzâz, ma ataynish doua;
bghreet nmshi el maghreb fi el babbor,
but now my vacation is ruined,
and I will only see Morocco on the Internet.

*Sponsored by SpeakMoroccan.

Only someone who has experienced Ramadan can appreciate the camaraderie of breaking fast together at the end of the day over harira, dates, and shebekia. And for Jews, today marks the beginning of the New Year, traditionally celebrated with sweets for a "sweet" new year. Ramadan karim, happy Rosh Hashanah, and may we all live more harmoniously together as we celebrate our differences in the coming months and years.

MarocAntan offers old photographs and historical commentary on the Morocco that was.

THE VIEW FROM FEZ has a very thoughtful post on population distribution. While acknowledging the challenges posed by urban poverty, the article points out that they are often a response to the greater hardships of rural poverty. The question becomes how the more fortunate segments of society wil respond to the needs of the less fortunate in the cities. The post cites the United Nations' State of the World Population Report.

Simply Moroccan has a great post — complete with pictures, lyrics, translations, and music video — on Reda Taliani's song about sailing to a better life.

One of the things I have always liked best about Robert B. Parker's mystery stories is that urban(e) tough guy Spenser is regularly cooking some delicious gourmet dish when he is not out roughing up the bad guys. Parker is quite detailed about the mouth-watering meals that Spenser cooks up and then usually washes down with good beer, so much so that one could almost imagine doing the cooking oneself.

So it is that I try new food as much as I can; life should be a culinary adventure. Finding myself in Puerto Rico a little more than a week ago for a conference, I escaped from the lavish Rio Mar resort long enough to sample "Mofongo," a mashed plantain dish, with octopus and conch at a local restaurant. Much to my surprise, I was the only person in the restaurant, a fact compensated for by a magnificent view of the island.

The beauty of the island was in stark contrast to the rather grim reading I brought along. After much searching, I had obtained a copy of Mohammed Choukri's For Bread Alone, and I read it in the evenings after seminars. Choukri recounts his brutal upbringing in a novel that is also very much about food, because there is never enough of it. In one vignette, Choukri jumps off the pier in the harbor to retrieve a crust of bread discarded by a fisherman, only to discover that he is swimming in a sea of shit. (Milan Kundera would no doubt find the novel vulgar but not kitschy.) Choukri's novel counterpoints between desire and disgust, the torments of appetite in a world where there is never enough of anything and a cruel and ignominious death hovers constantly in the background.

Taste of Morocco- Silver Spring, MD - Washington DC & Baltimore Area - Chowhound

Taste of Morocco gets a lukewarm review; Pyramids a thumbs up.

While others (whom I respect) have described as heartwarming the New York Times' recent article on Assilah and the role of the community oven (ferrane) as a foundation of Moroccan cooking and a center of community life, I found the article rather poignant. Unlike many places in the world, in Morocco it is still possible to find communities that bake their bread (Khubz) — a staple of Moroccan cuisine — in a community oven, an institution which &mdash like communal steam baths (hammam) knits communities together. In addition, farmers sell fresh produce in the souks, and chickens are bought freshly slaughtered from the butcher. As a friend of mine put it, in Morocco, it's all organic food. The Times, however, notes an ominous trend toward factory farming, mass production of food, and supermarkets, at least in the larger cities. In light of our soil-exhausting monocultures and the cruel overcrowding and massive doses of hormones and antibiotics to which we subject our livestock in the United States, I am seriously skeptical that Morocco will gain by following our example. Would anyone say that Americans eat better than Moroccans? Thought not.

Nesweek reports that Syrian Ammar Abdulhamid and Egyptian blogger "Sandmonkey," who recently went underground, are teaming up with an initiative to protect Arab bloggers from political repression. Via Myrtus.

Xoussef's comment on Hind's "Give me a sign" — that the song is "banal" but the video is "wonderful," seems to me to be right on. Several other points struck me. One was that I don't see that many Moroccan (or Moroccan inspired) songs in English; pace Marrakesh Express. The other is the degree to which the video is orientalized, from Hind's dress to the images of her mysterious hooded lover to the dance scene at the end. I would be very curious to know how this song speaks to Moroccans — to me it seemed to play very much to a European/American fantasy of Morocco, but perhaps my own view is too crude and stereotyped.

I was also very struck by Xoussef's reasons that he won't blog for a Maghreb Union: to me, the proposed Union seems a noble aspiration but not a political possibility.

101 Cookbooks visits Morocco.

The genuine Mauritania, or country of the Moors, which, from the ancient city of Tingi, or Tangier, was distinguished by the appellation of Tingitana, is represented by the modern kingdom of Fez. Salle, on the Ocean, so infamous at present for its piratical depredations, was noticed by the Romans, as the extreme object of their power, and almost of their geography. A city of their foundation may still be discovered near Mequinez, the residence of the barbarian whom we condescend to style the Emperor of Morocco; but it does not appear, that his more southern dominions, Morocco itself, and Segelmessa, were ever comprehended within the Roman province. The western parts of Africa are intersected by the branches of Mount Atlas, a name so idly celebrated by the fancy of poets; but which is now diffused over the immense ocean that rolls between the ancient and the new continent.

Edward Gibbon - The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire Volume 1

The View from Fez has a beautiful layout of the mosaics of Volubilis, Morocco's beautifully preserved Roman ruins.

THE VIEW FROM FEZ: The mosaics of Volubilis

Morocco Report points to Mariane Pearl's article in Glamour on the fate of unwed Moroccan mothers and their babies.

The Morocco Report � Mariane Pearl on unwed Moroccan mothers

Not everyone is enamored of the Hassan II mosque.

annalog � Blog Archive � Cambridge Taxi, or Masjid Hassan II

Everything Morocco points out how unusual, and valuable, it is that Morocco has a rich and vibrant artisanal culture even as it becomes progressively more modernized.

Everything Morocco: Made in Morocco

Sexual Threats Stifle Some Female Bloggers - washingtonpost.com

The Washington Post today ran a story on women bloggers being targeted with harassment and threats of violence:

As women gain visibility in the blogosphere, they are targets of sexual harassment and threats. Men are harassed too, and lack of civility is an abiding problem on the Web. But women, who make up about half the online community, are singled out in more starkly sexually threatening terms -- a trend that was first evident in chat rooms in the early 1990s and is now moving to the blogosphere, experts and bloggers said.

Beyond the obvious revulsion against threats of sexual violence against anyone, there are several additional reasons why this story is particularly disturbing. Not only are many of the attacks quite graphic, but also the perpetrators are often able to remain anonymous on the Internet. While one's first sympathies go to the victims, the consequences for the blogosphere are also likely to be severe. I would venture to say that a majority of the high quality blogs that I read regularly are written by women, and for women in the Maghreb the Internet seems to have been a particularly liberating opportunity for public expression. It would be a shame for the criminal actions of a few sociopaths to shut down access to free expression on the Internet for over half of the population. Finally, if my daughters want to blog when they get older, I want them to be able to do so without fear.

Even before the identity of the shooter at Virginia Tech was known, people were speculating that he was a Muslim in the comments to the New York Times story online. However, there were positive comments in the Times condemning knee jerk racist and xenophobic comments, and one person linked to a statement from the Virginia Tech Muslim Students Association.

For a fresh change of pace, check out Evelyn in Morocco. Congratulations to her on her recent wedding.

Not by a long shot was every Moroccan I met during my two-year stay interested in (a) converting me to Islam, (b) arranging a marriage to a Moroccan woman, or (c) enlisting me to obtain a visa to America, but on some days it seemed that way. I always assumed that such propositions were made in good faith, and I declined as politely as I could. And I confess, that when I was asked to describe life in America to my Moroccan friends, I never felt that I did a very adequate job. Moreover, the reality of life in America for a native-born American may be quite different than for a Moroccan immigrant.

One reason I found Paul Barrett's American Islam: The Struggle for the Soul of a Religion so fascinating is that it opened a little window into what life in America means for some Muslims. Particularly compelling I thought were portraits of former Black Muslim leader Siraj Wahhaj and Muslim scholar Khaled Abou El Fadl. The portrait of El Fadl, especially, limned a particularly humane and tolerant vision of Islam, one that made me eager to read some of El Fadl's work myself.

If there is a theme to Barrett's book, it is the contrast between a narrow traditionalism, propagated with Saudi Arabian money and espoused by many, but not all, immigrant Muslims, and a broader, more tolerant vision of Islam that comes to terms with secular American values, even if it does not always agree with them. Or course, in a book this rich, there are many additional tensions and contrasts, for example, those between Arabs and South Asians, those between African Americans and immigrants, and those between women and men. All in all, well worth reading for an insight into the contradictory lives of some Muslims in modern America.

(Disclaimer: I am an acquaintance of the author.)

Maryam of MyMarrakesh holds forth on video on the organic nature and continuing evolution of Moroccan design, as well as the impact — positive and negative — of ongoing foreign investment.

When I was in Morocco, the British Council Bookstore was one of the few sources for books in English, particularly books for students of English. The books were good, but not cheap, and I used to lend them out to my students for a few days at a time. I wonder how much has changed.

In Medieval Architecture, Signs of Advanced Math - New York Times

The New York Times reports that an article published in the journal science describes how certain medieval Islamic mosaic patterns made use of an advanced branch of mathematics known as quasi-crystals:

In the beauty and geometric complexity of tile mosaics on walls of medieval Islamic buildings, scientists have recognized patterns suggesting that the designers had made a conceptual breakthrough in mathematics beginning as early as the 13th century.

The tiles in the pattern can be rotated to form a pattern that is "infinitely big and yet the pattern never repeats itself, unlike the tiles on the typical floor." This branch of mathematics has only been understood by modern science within the past 30 years.

Stock photos, mostly of buildings.

I owe the song Thé à la Menthe by Nikkfurie/La Caution a debt because I think it is coincidentally one of the main reasons that people come to visit my blog by the same name. Although the song apparently figured prominently in the movie Ocean's Twelve, it was unknown to me at the time I started blogging. It occurred to me that if I ever found the lyrics, the least I could do is try to return the favor by translating them into English. This proved to be a more difficult project than it first appeared, because the lyrics are full of obscure (to me) French street slang. Nevertheless, in the hope of inspiring a better translation, I have printed my effort below. Any comments that will render the sense more justly will be greatly appreciated. I would also like to acknowledge a debt to wordreference and wiktionary as well as my more conventional Harrap's and Petit Robert.

I have translated the original lyrics as follows:

NIKKFURIE:

Boy, I remember Mrs. Nicole
A teacher who thought a raghead wasn't made for school!
I wore ragged velour, and red boots made of plastic,
A wool jacket, a t-shirt or some "Play-Basket".
The barber didn't even know that I existed!
However young and innocent, the snot on our noses with no Kleenex,
we squatted in the sandbox with our "Buds" and our ideas,
born to vandalize without even knowing it!
Our parents didn't have so we erred without having!
According to our neighbors, blatant racists, to put it best,
we were badly raised and their German shepherds better dressed!
Me, I don't believe it, and I never did
because parental is the only love that I ever had!
Thus for not loving myself, what puts me on the mend:
The virtues of "Naanaa" or some tea with mint!

HI-TEKK:

First generation slum, clandestine environment in a bar in Barbès:
tea with mint, couscous and tagines a la carte.
More scopitones for Mouloud and Said Abdullah.
With a dirty accent, no "Peace to you" said Hassan the athlete
originally from Algiers, from Hollywood to Tamanrasset.
More tea with mint, just bitter words!
Like a mental illness, I have a headache, I cavort
in stan-smith adidas, 501 jeans, it's O.K., I'm stuck with them.
Here, there's the assault, for a dozen more, there will be blood in the air.
This France tears me apart: an Arab is classed as a bandy-legged barbarian!
Fuck the culture of barbecue, steak and fast food!
In the bled, it's djellaba and sandals, from Oujda to Casablanca,
it's banal at the bottom of the city, I'm pissed and I don't give a shit.
It slashes at the base of my home; my pain and my joy are mingled
and that's all that remains of our cultural heritage.

NIKKFURIE:

An adolescence "Nastase and 501, Pento, funk cassettes and Daron in 505".
But as soon as the the word "Problem" comes with a capital P,
in the face of which all the world trembles or deceives!
After innocence, pessimism takes root
before incandescence, the right road bends,
I took his hand and my happiness cramped me,
along the lines of "only money and honor can make me real!"
But here, one can accuse you of things that if you did them, you would hang!
They need an Arab, a black, what you will, in short something concrete!
One is lucky never to be taken seriously . . .
Approach vice without ever going over the edge.
Modeling our long life on the flight of an angel . .
In school, we, vultures, against the albatross of Baudelaire!
One finds oneself in rap despite every real expectation . . .
The recipe: Sampler, pen, and tea with mint!

Words that particularly puzzled me:

Play-Basket, se véner, la tess, le daron

Update: The laser dance in Ocean's Twelve, with the instrumental version of Thé à la Menthe.

Kenza points out that Islamica Magazine is a new magazine worth reading not only for the quality of its content but also for the polish of its production.

Although much of the magazine's content deals with contemporary politics, an excellent example of its historical perspective can be found in its article on Andalusian Science in the current issue.

Ever wonder where your sardines come from?  View from Fez explains it all with a piece on Moroccan fisheries and their speculative future in the face of global warming and ocean cooling.

I had some of the best harira since I left Morocco today at the City Place Cafe at 17th and L, N.W. in Washington, D.C. The restaurant and sandwich shop, which is Moroccan owned, occasionally whips up a mean bowl of Fassi style harira, which I am told sells out in record time. One thing that was different for me was that the soup contained rice rather than soup noodles. It was so good, I bought two bowls for lunch, and only regretted that I did not have lemon, dates, and shebakya to go with it. (And yes, I know it is not Ramadan!)

And Morocco's own My Marrakesh is up for an award. Cast your vote for this witty, charming, and stylish blog today. Results will be posted March 12.

Thanks to Morocco Report.

Tingis: A Moroccan American Magazine of Ideas and Culture

The ghost of Tingis Magazine has a deservedly glowing review of Laila Lalami's Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits. I found it particularly interesting because I have not read many Moroccan reviews of the book.

Moroccan Vocabulary

A word of Dariija a day . . .

I don't drink much alcohol anymore. Coffee, though, is another matter. I start the weekday morning with a sizable cup (20 oz.) of drip coffee, sometimes with a little half and half, from the City Place Cafe (which is Moroccan owned and operated). At lunch, I usually go to Border's and sit down with a 12 oz. cup of black coffee and a book until my lunch hour is over. In the afternoon, I go over to the Caribou and pick up a small skim latte.

On the weekend, I usually just brew up a big pot of drip coffee, but if I am feeling a little energetic, I will make French press, a latte, a cappuccino, an espresso, or even Turkish coffee (yum!). That said, I do not really pretend to be a coffee connoisseur. However, for those who aspire to connoisseurship, the Washington Post today has a guide to "cupping" beans for taste, aroma, and freshness and a guide to the best brands in the Washington area.

Even though the United States has developed quite a coffee culture in the past twenty years, thanks in significant part to the sometimes reviled Starbucks, we still do not have the rich tradition of much of the rest of the world. For a hint of how cafe culture has matured in Morocco, see Laila Lalami's Café, Anyone?

Le Monde.fr : Maroc: Diffusion interdite d'un hebdomadaire pour atteinte à l'islam

The Palace Crackdown

Le Monde reports that the Moroccan government has taken a step away from free speech by confiscating an issue of the magazine Nichane ("Straight") for having the temerity to print jokes about "religion, sex, and politics." Most particularly, the Palace deemed the publication to have launched an "attack against Islam" and to have published writings contrary to "public morale and morals." The royal prosecutor has launched an investigation into the publisher and the journalist Sanaa Al Aji.

The American Contrast

Regardless of what idiots like Newt Gingrich believe, the First Amendment is the essential linchpin of American Democracy. Central to the First Amendment are the ideas that the government will not restrict freedom of expression and that the government will not support one religion over another. Obviously, I have not seen the jokes in question, but even if they were of the most extreme and inflammatory sort, they could be published in America without prior restraint. (Even in this dark age, jokes in print are unlikely to be considered "incitement" outside of First Amendment protection.) In this sense, unlike so many others, alas, America is a beacon to the world, and Morocco will not be a true democracy until it adopts similar principles. After all that Islam has survived, it will survive a few jokes.

The Erosion of the American Example

Of course, in the Age of Bush, nothing is straightforward. Now that prosecutors are subpoenaing journalists in the Plame affair, threatening them with prosecution in the AIPAC scandal, and otherwise making noises about prosecuting journalists if they are in receipt of "state secrets, the bloom may be off the First Amendment rose even in America.

eatbees blog ｻ Schizophrenic Morocco

Eatbees on the genius of Morocco, and why Moroccans are geniuses. (Scott Fitzgerald had it figure out.)

david kearns dot com - Muslim Prayer 101: we are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dreams

David Kearns has a succinct post on the basic elements of Muslim prayer, explained in English and translated. I agree with him that it is something every American should know a little more about.

Islam & Religious Tolerance

Those who believe (in the Quran) and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures) and the Christians and the Sabaeans, any who believe in Allah, and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. T.Q., Sura 2 of 114, The Cow, verse 62.

Nadia Lamlili has a very thoughtful post (in French) discussing the underlying similarities of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and the potential for tolerance among them. Overall, she concludes that there is more room for tolerance than the adherents of the three religions are normally willing to admit.

Rose-Lynn Fisher Morocco Photos

Beautiful black and white art photos of Morocco, currently on exhibit in Los Angeles.

Painting by Winston Churchill fetches 612,800 pounds (US$1.2 million; €906,000) at auction - Culture - International Herald Tribune

A painting of Tinherir by Winston Churchill, which he gave to General George Marshall, fetched an unexpectedly high price on the auction block.

The late British prime minister, a respected amateur artist, painted "View of Tinherir" in 1951 during one of his frequent trips to Marrakech in Morocco. In 1953 he gave it to Marshall as a symbol of Anglo-American solidarity.

Frankly, I am astonished that Marshall's heirs would have parted with such a priceless inheritance, and disappointed that they sold it to a private bidder rather than giving it to a museum. Greatness is not necessarily inherited, however.

I have always thought it remarkable that Churchill found a refuge in Marrakesh from his cares during and after the War.

Days of Glory - Movies - Review - New York Times

The New York Times favorably reviews Days of Glory (Indigenes). The movie depicts the struggles of North African soldiers in the French Army in World War II for victory over the German army and French prejudice.

The Daily Princetonian - A prince of Morocco, now of Princeton

The Daily Princetonian has a very flattering portrait of Prince Moulay Hicham Benabdallah, third in line to the throne but persona non grata at the palace for his outspokenness regarding democratic reform.

Association of Moroccan Professionals in America

I came across AMPA while I was reading about Moroccan events in the Washington, D.C., a number of which AMPA sponsors.

Yale Daily News - Anti-Muslim posters shatter cultural illusions

Yale junior Altaf Saadi reacts to caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad on the Yale Campus.

But the feelings of safety and comfort evaded me on the morning of Nov. 15, when, walking out of class, I was greeted by a hurried collage of blatantly racist, bigoted caricatures of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. It seemed, in those two seconds in which my mind went from the conjugation of the subjunctive in Espanol to the absolute shock of realizing that the tidal wave of anti-Muslim sentiment had hit home, that I was alone in a campus of thousands. Was this really happening? At Yale? Do I really live among and attend classes with students who think this? That a place as forward thinking as Yale would harbor such inconspicuously racist attitudes was appalling to me.

Saadi criticizes the posters not only for misrepresenting the Prophet, but also for their anonymous posting. In a refreshing reaction to the posting, the Muslim Students Association, which Saadi says stressses openness and inclusiveness on compus, is sponsoring an open forum to discuss the posters. Clearly, Saadi recognizes the fundamental truth that the answer to offensive speech is not suppresssion or censorship but more speech. And yes, I think the Daily News should have run a picture of the offending posters so that its readings could (a) see what kind of material was being posted on their campus, and (b) judge for themselves the degree of its offensiveness.

eatbees blog

By the way, the Islamist-Marxist divide on university campuses in Morocco ensures that student debate there remains mired in stupidity, with the two ideologies in a perpetual shouting match.

I remember being astonished when I was told that these were the two main intellectual currents at universities almost twenty years ago.

I have only just started reading eatbees, but it seems to be to me one of the most exciting things to happen to the English language Moroccan blogosphere in a long time.

On Faith: Salman Ahmad: Grapes By Any Other Name

The Washington Post is hosting a rather interesting debate on communication among different faiths. I was particularly struck by Salman Ahmad's parable of the grapes, which he begins with the observation that "Wine is a commonly used metaphor for truth and knowledge in Muslim Sufi poetry and folklore." Ahmad continues by recounting a story in which members of different faiths and nationalities are seeking the same "wine" in different guises.

Ahmad is South Asian, from Pakistan, but Sufi mystical traditions have played an important role throughout the Islamic world, including Morocco. I have only scratched the surface, but I am persuaded that it is a tradition that would repay further study.

Clifford Geertz; Altered Foundation of Anthropology - washingtonpost.com

Clifford Geertz, an anthropologist known in part for his field work in Morocco, died October 30, 2006.

A very attractive set of photos from Morocco is posted at Murmures..

In case you wondering whether the Disnification of Marrakesh is complete, the New York Times reports that Club Med has opened an exclusive high-end resort, "Le Riad," within the city walls:

MARRAKESH, Morocco — Beside a huge wooden door crossed with bolts stand two somber men in the flowing white Moroccan robes ordinarily reserved for traditional weddings.

They are the princely guardians of Le Riad, a walled compound at Club Med’s La Palmeraie resort, where first-class suites are sprinkled daily with fresh rose petals and solicitous spa attendants are on call nearby at a jasmine-scented pool to offer bubbling papaya baths.

Hadar Harris and Rahim Sabir - New York Times

Human Rights advocates Hadar Harris and Rahim Sabir met in Morocco and were recently married after Mr. Sabir finished an eight-month stint as a human rights monitor in Sudan.

Mr. Sabir, a human- and legal-rights advocate in Morocco, had organized a series of workshops on pending reforms to the country’s criminal procedure code. Ms. Harris, an international human rights lawyer, was a guest speaker.

The couple were married in Chevy Chase, Maryland, at a "traditional Jewish ceremony with Moroccan flourishes."

Tagine shopping in Crate and Barrel Specialty Cookware

Crate and Barrel has the following to say for its 21st century tagine:

Named for both the vessel and the savory stew-like dishes it produces, the traditional Moroccan tagine has a conical lid designed to recirculate moisture and return it to slow-cooking foods. Our version uses a new glazed clay called "flame" that's exceptionally resistant to heat, allowing you to break with tradition and use your tagine on a gas or electric stovetop, in the microwave or oven.

• Clay from the Burgundy region of France
• Heat-resistant "flame" technology
• Dishwasher-, microwave-, oven-, broiler- and stovetop-safe
• Made in France

At $89.95, however, I doubt it will make much of an inroad in the Moroccan market.

MAROC IT - Toute l'actualité des TIC au Maroc

For French-speaking readers, Maroc.IT interviews blogger Larbi.org on the state of the Moroccan blogosphere.

Dernière remarque, et il s'€™agit là d'€'une surprise agréable, le nombre des bolggeuses marocaines dépasse légèrement celui des bloggeurs de sexe masculin. Je crois même que c'€™est le premier domaine ou les femmes de notre pays réussissent cet exploit. La parité parfaite, les marocaines l'€'ont rêvée, la blogoma l'€'a faite ! Et ça, c'est une révolution.

"A final comment, and it concerns an agreeable surprise, the number of women blogging in Morocco slightly exceeds the number of men. I think that is the first arena in which the women of our country have pulled that off. Moroccan women have dreamed of perfect equality, and they have achieved it in the Moroccan blogsophere. And that, that is a revolution."

Larbi conducts a wide-ranging discussion of the Moroccan blogosphere, including observations on the need for better bandwidth so more adolescents can blog, the fact that blogging has yet to spread beyond the major cities, and the lack to date of a genuine impact by bloggers on policy in the country.

The Crumbling of the Casbah - New York Times

Historic preservation is an uphill battle in Algeria.

Jews of Morocco

An interesting short site on the status of Morocco's Jewish population.

Obituaries in the News - New York Times

PARIS (AP) -- Robert Carrier, a prolific American cookbook author, restaurateur and television chef, died Tuesday in southern France, a friend said. He was 82.

The chef, who moved to Europe during World War II, made his name in print and television in the 1960s. His books and programs reflected his love of world cuisine, from Morocco to the Caribbean.

I will have to look up Carrier's cookbook, "A Taste of Morocco."

THE VIEW FROM FEZ: The charming snakes of Morocco

The View From Fez has much to say about the Moroccan snake charming tradition and a few observations about the ecology of native snakes.

Laila Lalami is a literary evangelist. If she's not working on her second novel, writing her literary blog, or giving away books, she's on the road talking about her current novel Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits and her forthcoming novel. I had the distinct pleasure of meeting her briefly and hearing her read this evening at Olsson's Books and Records in Washington, D.C.

One of Ms. Lalami's dreams is to bring her first novel to the people of her native land — Morocco — in their native Moroccan dialect, Darija. To date, no publisher has even agreed to translate the book even into the more widespread, but less accessible classical Arabic that is the traditional language of literature and public life. Ms. Lalami hopes to translate her book into Darija during her forthcoming Fulbright fellowship in Morocco beginning this December.

Ms. Lalami addressed a wide range of questions, from the challenges of working as an Arab author in America, to the audience she writes for, to her literary influences and writing technique. She explained that fiction is often a better vehicle for arriving at the truth than the kind of sensationalized non-fiction that makes up the contemporary news. As a Arab writer, it can be difficult for her to be seen as airing the community's "dirty laundry" sometimes, particularly since she is deeply indignant about the way in which Arabs are so often misrepresented in contemporary America. And while she feels an obligation to feed the hungry minds of the 15,000 visitors to her website every day, ultimately she writes her books for herself alone. Otherwise, she said, she would always be censoring herself, if she thought about what other people would think, and that would betray her central mission — to write the truth.

What's the Catch? Fresh Fish in a Moroccan Port Town

The Washington Post extolls the pleasures of fresh fish in Essaouira:

In seaside hamlets across Morocco, you'll find fishermen hawking the fruits of the sea. But for an experience that appeals to all the senses, Essaouira -- revered by Moroccans and tourists alike for its windswept vistas, laid-back vibe and walled old city -- is the most appealing locale for indulging in fresh fish.

Casablanca - New York Times

The New York Times has a brisk tourist guide to Casablanca.

Laila Lalami has won a Fulbright to go back to Morocco for nine months to study Islamic extremism and secular movements. Based in Casa, she will also do volunteer work in a poor neighborhood. Godspeed.

To Lure the French, Don't Be Too Sweet - New York Times

Moroccan chef charms Paris with North African pastries.

The Road to Fez posts recipes.

I just received a copy of the Nouvel Observateur's Morocco issue.

Keeping a Moroccan Tradition Alive, One Tale at a Time - New York Times

Mr. Jabiri is a storyteller, a profession he has practiced for more than 40 years. Every day, he conjures up a real or imagined past that is filled with ancient battles and populated with sinners and prophets, wise sultans and tricky thieves.

The New York Times profiles the storytellers of Jemaa El Fna, who are perhaps the last of their kind.

Recipes : Steamed Couscous : Food Network

Alton Brown has recipes for couscous and couscous pudding.

Photographs from the exhibit by Sallam Chahdi.

Guy Gavriel Kay's evokes the last days of Al Andalus in a historical novel disguised as a fantasy. Without making any claims to historical accuracy, Kay nevertheless vividly reimagines the refined Al Andalus (Al Rassan) crushed between the Spanish zealots to the North and the North African zealots to the South. Not a book to slake a thirst for knowledge about Al Andalus, but perhaps a book to awaken one.

Eid El Kbeer (Eid El Adha) marks the high point of the Muslim year with the commemoration of Abraham's near sacrifice of Ishmael before God intervened and commended him to sacrifice a ram instead. (Yes, I am aware that the Biblical version is slightly different.) In commemoration of the event, Muslims throughout the world sacrifice a sheep on this day.

To all my Muslim and Moroccan friends, happy Feast of the Sacrifice!

Wafin.com has selected Kamal Essalhi a.k.a. DJ Kimo as its Moroccan of the month. One interesting observation in Essalhi's write up is that it was unusual for his parents to encourage him to become a musician, a choice of career most middle class Moroccan families would frown upon. Essalhi's website, http://www.djkimo.com, has links to an interesting page on Moroccan music and a video of one of his performances.

The View From Fès is among the latest in a growing number of high quality English Language blogs about Morocco. In light of the polished prose, stunning photographs, and steady stream of content, it is no surprise that this is a website produced by professionals — novelist and broadcaster Sandy McCutcheon ("Samir") and his wife, photographer Suzanna Clarke ("Zany"). McCutcheon and Clarke are in the process of renovating a "riad" or traditional Fassi house that once belonged to the notorious qaid Thami El Glaoui, who ruled southern Morocco for most of the French Protectorate but was spectacularly humbled upon the return of Mohammed V from exile in 1956. See Gavin Maxwell, Lords of the Atlas. The View from Fès is not merely a first class blog on Morocco, but a first class blog in its own right.

refusenik: Laila in the herragua's land..

A generation so desperate and so bitter that nothing 'll stop them from seeking better life, even if the only way they can afford it is to gamble with their lives and cross the mediteranean see in Patteras!!

The topical interest of Laila Lalami's might present a danger of obscuring its literary merit if it were not so beautifully written. This compact book of less than 200 pages presents snapshots in the lives of four Moroccans who attempt the dangerous illegal crossing of the Straits of Gibraltar in search of a better life in Spain. The results are ambiguous and poignant.

Phillip Kurata's dissects the slimy underbelly of a thinly fictionalized Tunisian police state. His naive, self-centered protagonist, Habib Ben Hamed, is quickly in over his head as his brother lures him into becoming an agent of the national police, a job for which his basic decency renders him completely unsuitable. This hard-boiled novel provides an unblinking look at the brutality of the modern police state, also a topic of considerable contemporary interest as Morocco reflects on the Years of Lead and on its own current human rights record.

When I was a teacher in Morocco, we used to teach the students songs on Fridays, and Bob Dylan was a perennial favorite. For example, "Blowing in the Wind" is rife with examples of the present continuous: "The answer is blowing in the wind." Naturally enough, the students would use phrases from the songs in their essays, so that the answers to questions sometimes came back as Dylanesque pastiches.

I was listening to Dylan this afternoon with the kids, while I was thinking about John Murtha, and the war, and how we seem to be right back where we started in 1965. It don't take a weather man to know which way the wind blows.

Due East of Augusta chronicles his second Ramadan with words and pictures.

David Brooks, Playa Hater - The New York Times columnist grapples with "gangsta rap." By Jody Rosen

The crime here isn't just laziness. It's tackiness and gall. Did Brooks bother to notice that the rappers whose songs he cites in his piece about "the future of Islam" aren't Muslim at all, but two black Frenchmen and one black Belgian? There's a word for this kind of stuff. "Mr. R," I suspect, would call it teub�.

Slate takes the Times to task for stereotyping Muslims and French rappers.

I have always thought of my blogs primarily as a means of self-fashioning and self-expression. To the extent that they also serve to communicate, I am pleased, but I have few illusions about my place in the blogosphere. What has been gratifying in recent months, as I have tried to focus more on my blog about Morocco, is the gradual discovery of other sites about Morocco, including an increasing number of sites in English. Attempting the quixotic (presumptuous?) task of trying to write about Morocco from the eastern United States has required me to read and learn more about the country than I would ever have done otherwise.

The Sheltering Sky | TIME Magazine - ALL-TIME 100 Novels

Paul Bowles' The Sheltering Sky made Time Magazine's list of the best 100 novels in English since 1923.

Taste of Morocco :washingtonpost.com

A Moroccan stew, as well as the conical topped vessel that it's sometimes cooked in and always served in, is called a tagine. And this is where this kitchen really shines. Whether you order lamb or chicken, the tender meat falls off the bone, and the seasoning is superb. My favorite might be the chicken tagine with green olives and preserved lemon -- the last a tangy ingredient that gives many Moroccan dishes legs. When the belly dancer asks me to join her for a once around the room, I stay with the chicken. Now that's commitment.

Taste of Morocco's new Silver Spring location gets two and a half stars and is designated an "Editor's Pick" by the editors of the Washington Post.

A Mosaic of Arab Culture at Home in America - New York Times

Morocco Time � Police and Taxis

A vivid story of an ordinary grand taxi ride gone bad . . . almost. One of the great things about the explosion of weblog technology is the amount of new writing coming from Morocco, of which there seems to be more and better with every passing month. Morocco Time is one my newest "must reads."

Annuaire des blogs marocains - Comme une bouteille jet�e � la mer !

An unusually thorough and interesting list of Moroccan blogs.

Laila Lalami, author of Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits and of the blog MoorishGirl, is being profiled by Moroccan magazine Tel Quel. (Available on line, in French, on October 28, 2005).

Ramadan : Moroccan Associations organise ftour ceremonies in USA :: moroccoTimes.com

Washington Moroccan Club� and Houston Moroccan Alliance organised on Sunday the first "Iftar" ceremonies in Silver Spring (Maryland) and Houston (Texas) respectively.

Twenty " Iftar"� ceremonies, organised in the Moroccan way, are expected in many other American cities, on the honour of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish guests.

I had hoped to be able to attend the ceremony in Silver Spring, but with two young children at home, it did not seem very practical this year. Inshallah, this is a tradition that will continue.

Due East of Augusta: The Same Running Plot With Some New Characters

Peace Corps Volunteer R. Andy describes the cross-cultural challenges of donning shorts and going running in Morocco.

A French Accent

In Sweet Surrender's kitchen, co-owner and co-pastry chef Riyad Bouizar smoothes mocha butter cream on a chocolate cake before sliding it into the display case out front. There it joins a host of colorful French cakes and pastries offered by the small, five-month-old bakery and pastry shop in Arlington's Pentagon Row.

Two Moroccan cousins run a patisserie in the Washington suburbs.

Morocco Time � Review of Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits�

This review of Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits not only offers an interesting perspective on Laila Lalami's book, but also keen observations on the limitations of expatriate outsiders, however interested or sympathetic.

The Bellingham Herald | news | | Risking their lives: Lalami explores the plight of Moroccan refugees

A short interview with Laila Lalami about her new book Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits. She discusses the risks people take to make it across the Straits of Gibraltar in search of a better life, and the effect on Morocco of large scale migration from countries farther South. In the second part of the interview, Lalami discusses how she became an immigrant in the United States, and the discipline that her writing requires.

MoorishGirl: Salman Rushdie: The Interview

Salman Rushdie asks for Laila Lalami's autograph.

MoorishGirl writes about how horrified she was to discover that the devastation in Louisiana far exceeded anything she had imagined in her novel, which opens with a flood in Casablanca.

Smoking Hashish in Morocco

About.com actually has an article about smoking "kif" in Morocco. Aside from the fact that kif is widely smoked by Moroccan men, the article points out that the penalty for possession is potentially ten years in a Moroccan jail, and that many dealers are also informers. At the same time, enforcement is often erratic, since kif represents a significant source of revenue.

The Peace Corps' Moroccan Arabic textbook is partially on-line at Friends of Morocco. This textbook teaches the spoken dialect of Arabic peculiar to Morocco, as opposed to Modern Standard Arabic, which is uniformly used in reading, writing, and official communications throughout the Arab world.

I pulled Paul Wolfert's cookbook off the shelf, and, for the first time in years, I prepared a Tangier-style couscous with chicken, onions, and raisins. It was decidedly worth the effort, although the four-hour preparation time means that it may be a while before I do it again.

In the Arab World, Pop Stardom Can Be A Touchy Subject

Most Arab countries are far more culturally liberal than Saudi Arabia. In fact, the Arab world's pop industry superficially resembles our own, with the Arab Top 20 playing on the radio and in discotheques throughout the Middle East. A dozen or so major record labels dominate the scene, mostly based in Egypt and Lebanon. Arab television boasts more than half a dozen music channels, as well as several talent search programs propelled by viewer phone-in voting -- "Star Academy" is just one such program; another is "Superstar," from the same production company that created "American Idol."

Apart from Egypt and a brief mention of Rai, the Post's article gives North Africa short shrift. I do not know enough about either music or Arab music to confirm the details, but the article appears to address its topic in broad strokes. It is worth reading, I think, particularly for its background on the structural differences between Arab and European music, but also for its description of the Egyptian and Lebanese dominated world of popular music.

Marja-Leena Rathje has written a review of Lalla Essaydi's photographs of women in henna dyed clothing. Rathje was immediately attracted to Lalla Essaydi's work owing to its similarity to some of her own.

Joshua Haynes is working on preparing an Amazigh text book for the Tashelheet dialect spoken in the Middle Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Meanwhile, I have just received the text of a Peace Corps textbook on Moroccan Arabic that I hope to prepare for viewing on the web.

Laila Lalami of MoorishGirl has completed revisions to her forthcoming novel, The Things That Death Will Buy, due in bookstores by October. Like Yto Barrada's photographic exhibit, the novel apparently focuses on the hardships of Moroccan immigrants trying to make their way to Europe. Morocco has always been located at the interstice between Europe and North Africa, but the current desperate efforts of Moroccans seeking a better life in Europe mark a new chapter in an old story.

Thanks to Marja-Leena for pointing out (via the Art in Liverpool Weblog)that a new exhibit focusing on the Moroccan diaspora has opened at the OpenEyeGallery in Liverpool. Autograph ABP is supposed to be coming out with a catalog, but it does not appear to be available yet.

Out Traveler magazine has a provocative but somewhat superficial piece on gay tourism in Morocco. Framed by Paul Bowles' experience, the article describes a level of cultural tolerance that is rarely associated with Arab and Muslim cultures. At the same time, it perhaps overemphasizes the divide between Berber and Arab culture in Morocco.

Wafin.com points to an online Moroccan music collection.

I came across this reading list of books on Morocco quite by chance, but it looked fairly interesting.

Marja-Leena Rathje has pictures of Moroccan women based on photographs by Irving Penn. The women in the photograph are from Rissani, on Morocco's eastern border near Erfoud. More pictures of Rissani can be seen at Nomad's Land Photography and VirtualTourist.

Middle East Online

Bronze statues from Roman times, Phoenician jewellery, a 14th century wooden pulpit from a mosque, colourful mosaics: the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam has put 300 art treasures from Morocco on exhibit that it hopes will change how Dutch view people of Moroccan descent.

The story in Middle East Online includes a couple of photographs. I am reminded of my father's favorite site — the Roman ruins at Volubilis — that we saw when I took my parents on a tour.

Paul Barchilon explores his family heritage through ceramics whose design is patterned after the Moroccan art and tile work he studied in Safi, Fez, and Marrakesh. In a unusual twist, much of his work is Jewish ceramics such as seder plates. I became acquainted with his work when my wife and I were looking for a seder plate to give to my sister and brother-in-law as a wedding present. My wife gave me a handsome set of four Barchilon ceramic coasters for Christmas.

I ended up reading Tahar Ben Jelloun's Le dernier ami (The Last Friend) quite by accident. I was reading quite a bit about Ben Jelloun's Cette aveuglante absence de lumière, the English translation of which () had just won the International IMPAC Dublin Award. I naively mentioned to a Moroccan friend that I was interested in reading Tahar Ben Jelloun's latest novel, and he quite naturally (and generously) offered to lend Le dernier ami to me.

Le dernier ami is the story of the formation and unraveling over several decades of an unusually close friendship between a Moroccan professor and a Moroccan doctor. The story is told from the point of view of several narrators, mainly the two principals, Ali and Mahmed. In doing so, it paints a vivid picture of Moroccan life in the late 60's and early 70's.

Quite striking to an American reader, I think, is the author's direct and matter of fact account of the sexual awakening of his two protagonists. Without indulging in the soft pornography so characteristic of modern writing in English, Ben Jelloun is quite explicit about the sexual lives of the two young men in his story. I found this remarkable in part because I have found the public face of sexuality in Morocco to be quite conventionally moral (apart from fairly widespread prostitution). Ben Jelloun recounts the ingenious ways in which his characters circumvent their society's moral strictures in order to find sexual fulfillment. (The only similar treatment of Moroccan sexuality I have run across is the opening chapters of Jeffrey Tayler's . In reading about the adolescence of Ben Jelloun's characters, I experienced the pleasant shock of finding my own naivete exposed.

From the passions of adolescence, the novel quickly passes to chilling description of the brutalities of a Moroccan prison, into which the two protagonists are cast for reasons that are never very clear, other than the fact that they are young, educated, and flirting with communism. Imprisonment forges a far closer bond between Ali and Mahmed, who rely on each other to survive the experience. In the background is the shadowy and sinister presence of General Oufkir, the Minister of the Interior, chief torturer of King Hassan II's regime, and mastermind of two failed coups, the second of which resulted in his death and the decades-long imprisonment of his family.

Their release from prison marks the point at which the paths of the two protagonists diverge. Ali becomes a professor of geography and a operator of a ciné-club in Rabat; Mahmed becomes a doctor and ventures abroad to Sweden. While Ali manages to carve an apparently comfortable niche for himself in Morocco, Mahmed is at home neither in Morocco nor in his adopted Sweden, to which he repeatedly and unfavorably compares his native land. Ben Jelloun explores not only the complex relationship between Morocco and other countries, but the complex social relations of the characters within Morocco itself. Not until the very end does Ben Jelloun manage to fuse and reconcile the growing tensions between the two friends.

As far as I know, Le dernier ami has not yet been translated into English, but it is written in a straightforward and direct French that is likely to be accessible to anyone who speaks the language at an intermediate level.

MoorishGirl: Publish (in English) or Perish?

MoorishGirl has a lengthy discussion of the dearth of Arab literature available in English translations. She points out that English speaking readers would need a sample of Arab literature in order to decide whether it was to their taste. My question is whether there is an English speaking community that is publicly discussing Arab literature. In other words, what kind of word of mouth are Arab titles getting in the English speaking world?

Responses to "Sir Winston Churchill's art" August 12, 2003

Painting joined Churchill's vocations of politics, reading, bricklaying and writing. In his little book Painting as a Pastime he tells of the benefits and joys of his forty-year hobby. We've included some of Winston's paintings and a few of his perceptive insights in the current clickback at www.painterskeys.com/clickbacks/pick.asp

Among the paintings described and shown above is Churchill's painting of the Koutoubia mosque in 1948.

MoorishGirl

"I've just heard that Moroccan author Mohammed Choukri passed away this weekend at his home in Tangier. A contemporary and friend of Jean Genet, Tennessee Williams, Paul Bowles (with whom he later had a falling out), and others, Choukri is probably best known for his semi-autobiographical novel Al-Khubz Al-Hafi, which dealt with famine in the 1940s and his experiences with drugs, homosexuality, and prostitution.

I guess I need to add Choukri to my list of people to read. It's not the first time I've heard his name, but I'm sorry to learn about him because of his death.

Over the weekend, I caught the end of the National Museum of African Arts' exhibit The Fabric of Moroccan Life -- a show about Moroccan textiles. The show illustrated the central role of textiles in Arabic and Berber decor, and showcased a variety of clothing, curtains, pillows, and wall hangings. Like most shows at the Museum of African Art, the selection was chosen so that it could be seen in the space of an hour and a half. I came away not only with a new appreciation for Moroccan textiles, but also with two CD's of Moroccan music and a beautiful set of tea glasses.

The Dazzle Is in the Details (washingtonpost.com)

"Microfibers are easy-care technical wonders. But for emotional connection, they have nothing on the splendid spangled silks and striped cottons from old Marrakech, Fez and Rabat."