• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Tuesday, August 16, 2022
REPORTING MOROCCO REPORTING MOROCCO
REPORTING MOROCCO REPORTING MOROCCO
  • Home
  • Nation
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Environment
    • Education
  • Art & Culture
    • Food
    • Art
    • Music
    • Fashion
  • Religion
  • Health & Science
    • Public Health
  • Our Student Journalists
    • Spring 2020
      • Anna Mitchell
      • Antonia Knox
      • Aviva Rosenberg
      • Corrine Schmaedeke
      • Elijah McKee
      • Gari De Ramos
      • Harrison Daley
      • Jessica Blough
      • Kathryn Jefferson
      • Marlon Hyde
      • Nejra Kravic
      • Solaine Carter
    • In Other Media
  • Alumni
    • Fall 2019
      • Rachel Berets
      • Chloe Chaobal
      • Ella Feldman
      • Ryley Graham
      • Georgia Knoles
      • Patrick Linehan
      • Mimi Miyamoto
      • Stella Shi
      • Bella Staal
      • N’Kaela Webster
      • Ellie Zimmerman
    • Spring 2019
      • Alexis Broadnax
      • Amelia Keesler
      • Anton Delgado
      • Austin Corona
      • Catherine Brewer
      • Chris Dillon
      • Giulia Villanueva
      • Lauren Goldfarb
      • Lexi Reich
      • Mac Dressman
      • Malaya Nordyke
      • Margaret Dols
      • Mary Bernard
      • Maya London-Southern
      • Michelle Li
      • Shelby Kluver
      • Stephen Higgins
      • Viviana Prado-Núñez
    • Fall 2018
      • Alexandria Saurman
      • Alexis Miller
      • Brionne Frazier
      • Jabari Richardson
      • Jordyn Congelli
      • Kylie Wilder
      • Megan O’Herron
      • Sam Metivier
      • Zoe Buchli
    • Spring 2018
      • Alyssa Kann
      • Anna Bongardino
      • Carrie Boike
      • Emily Vega
      • Erika Riley
      • Hadley Stack
      • Joseph Held
      • Matthew McDermott
      • Molly Keisman
      • Najah Mateen
      • Olivia Lewis
      • Ryan Terhune
    • Fall 2017
      • Andrew Seger
      • Claire Franksen
      • Clara Neill
      • Jeanette Lam
      • Justin Cates
      • Katie Koontz
      • Lara Korte
      • Lars Brady
      • Lars Brady
      • Livvy Fore
      • Olivia Kohn
      • Rita Carmona
      • Sophie Nunnally
      • Sophie Pollock
    • Spring 2017
      • Allie Merola
      • Anisha Wilson
      • Connor Shannon
      • David Fuchs
      • Deborah Katsuva
      • Evan Popp
      • Katharine Milbradt
      • Kesley Cochran
      • Mary Chen
      • Mary Mathis
      • Max Jodoin
      • Micaela Harris
      • Perry DeMarche
      • Regan Reeck
      • Sophie Alexander
      • Tamara Matheson
      • Zakiyyah Maryam
    • Fall 2016
      • Celia Heudebourg
      • DeJah Ault
      • Dewborah Honore
      • Jessica Lartigue
      • Margaret Britton-Mehlisch
      • Phoebe Osterhout
      • Regan Reek
      • Shirley Chan
      • Sonia Mohammadzadah
      • Taylor Burris
    • Spring 2016
      • Amelia Palacios
      • Becca Dewosky
      • Cannon Sullivan
      • Danielle Douglas
      • Daria Etezadi
      • Elaina Zachos
      • Julia Cabrera
      • Kainoelani Lee
      • Kelsey Hanson
      • Mackenzie Ritter
      • Madeline Hughes
      • Molly Mulroy
      • Oly Zayac
      • Savin Mattozzi
      • Shiloh Frederick
      • Viviane Feldman
      • Wesley Lickus
    • Fall 2015
      • Allegra Thomas
      • Christopher Lowell
      • Darren Spirk
      • Hannah Steinkopf-Frank
      • Jennifer Kwon
      • Kayla Dwyer
      • Mitchell McCluskey
      • Nora Kipniss
      • Rob Dozier
      • Rob Dozier
      • Simneon Lancaster
      • Trey Strange
    • Spring 2015
      • Ben Bartenstein
      • Brennan Weiss
      • Emma Sikora Paulus
      • Evan Verploegh
      • Evin Billington
      • Hayden Crowell
      • Julia Barstow
      • Julia Levine
      • Kacie Graves
      • Kiannah Sepeda-Miller
      • La’akea Kaufman
      • Mackenzie Martin
      • Mary Byrne
      • Paris Alston
      • Samantha Weiss
      • Sofie Tapia
      • William Matsuda
    • 2014 Students
    • 2013 Students

Reporter’s Notebook: An Hour in Chefchaouen

November 12, 2013 By Madeleine Thompson

Mohsine Nqadi, 46, looks up from his easel, paintbrush in hand, as my two companions and I enter his studio on the heels of his caramel-colored dog Julie. The space is comfortable, and Nqadi’s paintings cover its walls. Much of his work matches the scenery around him in Chefchaouen, the blue city of Morocco. Myriad shades of blue are stretched across canvases of every size, accompanied by some work in black and white or purple and white. Nqadi is all smiles and hospitality as he ushers us inside, waving for us to sit in an alcove conveniently surrounded by his pieces.

Nqadi tells us he loves the community of artists in Chefchaouen that he has lived among for more than 10 years, inspired by the surrounding Rif Mountains of the north. Chefchaouen is calmer and less crowded than cities like Marrakech and Fes, perhaps because it is a large producer of hashish and has a considerable population of drug dealers. Bustling around in the adjacent kitchen to prepare some Moroccan mint tea, Nqadi says that he prefers it here to Morocco’s more popular attractions, finding it easier to work in. Looking around the studio it is easy to see why he likes having room to spread out and other artisans next door to convene with. Vendors of natural beauty products and leather goods are tucked into every nook and cranny.

Chefchaouen, however, is not Nqadi’s only muse. The Sahara Desert is featured in many paintings, and he raves about the trips he has taken there. The theme of most of his work, “darkness into light,” is evident in the variations from lightest to darkest purples and blues. Nqadi’s paintings are often only two shades, white and either black, blue or purple. They depict sparse images like a lone figure leading a camel over the sand, or a modest door, but they convey a sense of serene appreciation for simplicity. As he talks, Nqadi walks around gesturing at various canvases. He is in full salesman mode.

He says he gets plenty of business selling his art here— the smallest pieces go for 12 USD and the biggest for 55 USD, which is pricey in a country with an average annual income of 633 USD. For a part of the world known for its ancient Islamic architecture and designs, contemporary art is on the rise. Between sips of tea Nqadi promotes his profession, saying that art is easy to roll up and take home with you. He says it’s an easy and important way to exchange cultures.

Nqadi himself is active in the exchange process, hosting art students from Rabat every few weeks who come to learn from him and experience the culture of Chefchaouen. He plans to start offering cooking classes soon. He adds that his English is good because of another kind of exchange— he lived with an American woman here for seven years.

Nqadi’s strategy of mint tea and interesting conversation is a smart sales ploy— we leave with a wooden cut-out of Africa, a large silhouette of a woman painted on canvas and a smaller desert scene. Nqadi invites us to come back and stay with him, and after too-short a visit to the blue city, we just might.

 

Art & Culture

Reader Interactions

Art

MMP+ and Magnum Photos Celebrate Inaugural Exhibit in Marrakech

MARRAKECH, MOROCCO – Last weekend, the recently-opened Marrakech Museum for Photography and Visual … Read Full Article

Anna Bongardino

Street Art: The Urban Canvas of Morocco

By Emily Vega, Photography by Anna Bongardino RABAT, Morocco -- Jammed between a blank wall and a … Read Full Article

Art

Sub-Saharan African migrants in Morocco find hope in art and performance

By Robert Dozier RABAT, Morocco – Jackie Zappa, is an artist from the Ivory Coast -- one of an … Read Full Article

Trackbacks

  1. Reporter’s Notebook: An Hour in Chefchaouen | NOMADeleine says:
    November 17, 2013 at 6:32 pm

    […] published here in Reporting Morocco on Nov. 12, […]

    Reply

Primary Sidebar

FOLLOW REPORTING MOROCCO

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Handprints in Oudayas

More Featured Photos

ALUMNI JOURNALISTS

Alumni Spotlight: Ben Bartenstein

SIT Students Visit Alum Perry DeMarche at Dar Si Hmad

Moroccan families mourn drowning of 45 who used risky migration route to Spain

Photo by WBUR

A reporter for Boston’s unheard voices: Spotlight on MOJ alum Paris Alston

More Alumni Posts

The Program

Reporting Morocco is produced by U.S. university students on an SIT Study Abroad program called Morocco: Field Studies in Journalism and New Media. They are mentored by veteran journalists from The New York Times, The Associated Press, and Round Earth Media in a program applying technology and global consciousness to produce high-impact journalism on vital social issues.

Reporting Morocco strives to be a reliable resource for news and information about Morocco.

Learn More

SIT Logo

A pioneer in experiential, field-based study abroad, SIT (founded as the School for International Training) provides more than 60 semester and summer programs for undergraduate students in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East, as well as comparative programs in multiple locations.

Morocco: Field Studies in Journalism and New Media is a program of SIT Study Abroad.

  • The World Learning Inc. Family:
  • experiment.org
  • https://studyabroad.sit.edu
  • worldlearning.org

Footer

  • Academics
  • Admissions
  • Apply
  • Alumni
  • Alumni Connect
  • Give
  • Media Center
  • Request Info
  • SIT Stories
  • School for International Training

    1 Kipling Road • Brattleboro, VT 05302 • 802 257-7751 • 800 257-7751 (toll-free in the US)
    SIT is a private nonprofit institution of higher education.

  • Explore SIT Graduate Institute

    © Copyright World Learning, Inc.