Arts....Film....Exhibits.... Arts....Film....Exhibits....
FOM Newsletter Spring 1997
What follows is a schedule of conferences, exhibits, new books,
and other notes that concern the arts in or about Morocco. If you know of an upcoming
event, exhibit, new books, recordings, etc...,
please send the information to the FOM Newsletter to share with other Moroccophiles.
Lyautey and the French Conquest of Morocco, by (FOM Member) William A. Hoisington, Jr., a professor and associate dean of the Graduate College at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The book traces the development of Marshal Louis-Hubert Lyautey' ideas on conquest and rule at home and abroad, and shows how they translated into practice. According to the book, Lyautey' approach to colonial matters had much that was praiseworthy, though in the end he always relied on violence, which failed to stem Moroccan resistance to French rule. Based on archival material in Morocco and France, it is the first book to deal in detail with the French pacification strategy and the mechanics of "indirect rule." The book was published in 1995, by St. Martin' Press in New York.. Hoisington is also author of The Casablanca Connection: French Colonial Policy, 1936-1943.
Historical Dictionary of Morocco, New Edition was released 1996, by Scarecrow Press in London. In the book, Thomas K. Park fills the pages with information about Morocco' history, political activity, commercial and agricultural situations, genealogical trees for the major dynasties, geography, and demography. Also included are numerous clear maps, a bibliography, and a listing of libraries and archives about Morocco in Europe, Morocco, and private hands. Very good.
The Third Annual World Sacred Music Festival will see leading musicians from around the world descending on Fez, for a week-long celebration 24-31 May, 1997. The festival will see a sharing of sacred music from the spiritual traditions of both East and West. Included will be such diverse groups as the ARC Gospel Choir from Harlem, New York, the Master Musicians of Jajouka, Morocco, the Arcadia Ensemble from Switzerland, the Bismillah Khan of India, Sharam Nazeri of Iran, the Orchestra of St. Louis Academy with the Hugette Calmel Vocal Ensemble (playing the Mozart Requiem), Munadzhat Yulchieva from Uzbekistan, and the Children of Abraham (three youth choirs representing Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions). The 14 concerts in the 1997 festival will take place at historic sites throughout Fez, including the Roman ruins at Volubilis, a 15th Century Moorish palace, and in the courtyard of the Royal Palace. Over 2000 spectators from around the world attended last year' festival. Festival President and Moroccan Minister of Finance, Mohammed Kabbaj, says, "the greatest challenge at the end of this century is to give birth to real communications and a living solidarity among civilizations and cultures."
Vues d'Afrique is the largest festival of film and video from Africa and the Caribbean in North America. Held in Montreal in late April, it is designed for anyone with basic to intermediate French skills to participate in art, music, dance, film, and French language classes. For more information, call Julia Schulz, Penobscot School, 207.594.1084.
The Bathhouse: The Culture of the Bath in East and West tells the history of the public bathhouse in both the Islamic Middle East (and North Africa) and in the Netherlands. It is on display through Summer 1997, at the Museum voor Volkenkunde, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Magic Carpets: Selections from the Brooklyn Museum Collection plays seven 16th and 17th Century carpets from diverse traditions. It is on exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum, in New York, through the Fall of 1998.
Within the Middle East: Textiles, Dress, and Ornament is a new permanent gallery displaying artifacts from the 9th to the 20th Century, and from India to Spain. The new exhibit hall can be seen at the Royal Museum of Scotland, in Edinburgh.
Following the Stars: Images of the Zodiac in Islamic Art presents the twelve signs of the zodiac, along with the eight known planets, on metal work, pottery, and in manuscripts dating from the 12th to the 17th Century. The exhibit will appear at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, through 31 August, 1997.
The Architecture of Memory, a Jewish-Muslim Household in Colonial Algeria, 1937-1962 , by Joelle Bahloul, recalls how they lived in a single house that was occupied by several Jewish and Muslim families, in the generation before Algerian independence. Uprooted and dispersed in the early 1960s, these former neighbors constantly refer back to the architecture of the home itself, which, with its internal boundaries and shared spaces, structures their memories. Here, in miniature, is a domestic history of North African Muslims, Jews, and Christians, living together under French colonial rule. The book is available from Cambridge University Press.
Medieval Isma' History and Thought, also from Cambridge University Press, is based on authentic Isma' texts discovered in the 1930s, in private collections of the Islamic world. The texts threw new light on the history of the Shi' Muslim community. Written as a series of essays by leading contemporary authorities, the book deals with important historical and doctrinal issues, as well as the specific literary and intellectual traditions of the Shi'. Farhad Daftary is editor of this publication.
The International Journal of Middle East Studies has published a series of original research papers and reviews concerning the countries of the Arab World - covering time from the 7th Century to the present. For a list, contact the Journal at Cambridge University Press, North American Branch, 40 West 20th Street, New York NY 10011-4211, email: journals_marketing@cup.org.
