Sunday, May 9, 2021

Art & Culture

News Roundup: Spanish Lawyer Expelled; Laayoune to Host Forum; Moroccan Artist Blurs the Lines

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Photo Credit: Meriem Bennani

February 27, 2020

Three stories you need to read today. Compiled and broken down for you by Reporting Morocco student journalists — every day. Brought to you from the School for International Training’s journalism program, Rabat.

Laayoune: The Moroccan authorities expel a Spanish lawyer

Source: Yabilaadi

Lede: The Moroccan authorities prevented on Tuesday a Spanish national from entering the city of Laayoune.

Key Background: The lawyer was prevented from leaving the plane after she landed in Laayoune via a flight from Casablanca. She was planning to attend the trial of a Sahrawi who is accused of offending a police officer and setting a car on fire.

News Roundup: Morocco Boosts Anti-Smuggling Measures; German Terrorist Calls for “Elimination” of Certain Countries; Moroccan-Belgian Writer Wins Literary Award

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Photo Credit: Koen Broos.

February 24, 2020. Three stories you need to read today. Compiled and broken down for you by Reporting Morocco student journalists — every day. Brought to you from the School for International Training’s journalism program, Rabat.

Morocco to Boost Anti-Smuggling Measures amid Frustration from Ceuta, Melilla

Source: Morocco World News

Lede: General director of Moroccan customs Nabyl Lakhdar confirmed that Morocco will continue to strengthen anti-smuggling regulations amid deep concerns from Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta.

Key Background: In an interview with EFE, Lakhdar said  the decision was due to complaints that the customs office continues to receive from the  trade operators in the country due to “unfair competitions” caused by products from Ceuta and Melilla.

A Young Woman’s Mission to Integrate Creativity into Schools

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By Zoe Buchli

Marya Joudani, 24, is enthusiastic about integrating art into education This stems mainly from her time at Connect Institute, where she was a student for two years and currently works as a coordinator.

“It’s only when I joined Connect Institute that I started to notice the differences between the way school is today and the way it should be,” she said.  

Nestled in a growing housing development in Agadir, a beach town in southern Morocco, Connect is housed in a large, modern building. The school provides “alternative higher education” and admits students based on their abilities, not their degrees or grades so far.

Footloose but not fancy free: Dancing in Morocco

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By Alexis Miller. Photos by Alexandria Saurman

Rabat — “I don’t get paid for this and I don’t think I would want to be…,” Hajar Regragui says while unlocking the door to the dance studio at International University of Rabat (UIR). She’s about to teach 60 college students choreographed dance routines in various styles: Hip-hop, African inspired dance, and Salsa. The course lasts three hours and is completely a labor of love. She seems to look happiest when drenched in sweat.

Hajar Regragui is a 21-year-old political science and international relations student at UIR, but she introduced herself to me first and foremost as a dancer and told me about her favorite spots in Casablanca for dancing.

Being a (Secret) Atheist in a Country Full of Faith

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RABAT–A café on the hem of Rabat’s medina basks in its atmosphere of quiet anonymity. This suits Mohamed Abdallah, a 27-year-old translator born and raised a few short alley twists away. He shifts a bit uneasily in his sun-drenched seat by the window, his sharp brown eyes scanning the space for possible eavesdroppers.

“I hope no one here speaks English,” Abdallah  says apprehensively. Though the small cafe is sparsely populated, its patrons preoccupied and noises soft, the conversation that is about to ensue makes him uneasy. Abdallah is an atheist, a belief that carries heavy implications in a country built on Islam.

Street Art: The Urban Canvas of Morocco

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By Emily Vega, Photography by Anna Bongardino

RABAT, Morocco — Jammed between a blank wall and a rushing train headed to Casablanca, Zakaria Essadiki, 22, uses his ten seconds of concealment to spray paint his graffiti name: ZED. Unseen and unscathed, he leaves behind his mark and continues around his city reclaiming walls.

Essadiki is a part of a growing community of young Moroccans participating in the urban alternative culture of street art. Although street art has been a thriving genre around the world for over half a century, it has just begun its debut across Morocco.

Three Generations Find Pride and Opportunity in Family Leather Business

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by Emily Vega

RABAT, Morocco – Ayoub El Khalifi stands against a wall covered in his family’s handmade traditional leather goods. He wears a black felt fedora hat. Every square inch behind him displays polished and hand crafted leather bags, cushions, belts and more. As customers explore the store, the smell of tanned leather follows them. Hanging from the ceilings and lining the walls, hundreds of designs are displayed.

This traditional craft has provided the El Khalifi family with an escape from a troubled region and livelihood in a country where many young people struggle to find jobs.

DJ Sim H: Finding Freedom in Rap

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By Najah Mateen

CASABLANCA, Morocco – When Simo Sguiry was a child, he and his younger brother would listen to American artists from their father’s tape collection. “I grew up with Michael Jackson,” Simo says.

Since then, his musical tastes have changed a lot. A Casablanca native, Simo is now a DJ, and the Moroccan music industry knows him as DJ Sim H.

Like Simo, Moroccans have embraced hip-hop culture while managing to put their own cultural twist on something that was once uniquely American. This is evident in the current generation of Moroccan rappers, who rap in Arabic, Darija, and French.

“Jus d’avocat:” a Moroccan delicacy with a surprising reputation

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By DAVID FUCHS

RABAT, Morocco — At Le Gout du Fruit, a juice shop in downtown Rabat, students and pedestrians cluster around standing height, stainless-steel tables and chat above the constant whir of blenders and blaring traffic outside.

Among the crowd is Moe Mohammed, a wiry 26-year-old from southern Morocco, who is wolfing down a fruit salad covered with a creamy, green mixture known as “jus d’avocat.” He pauses, momentarily, to extol the topping’s rumored health benefits.

“In Morocco, they say that, whoever is married needs a lot of avocado juice,” he said.

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