Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
By Nidal Chebbak
Morocco World News
Fez, February 21, 2012
The Red City, Marrakesh, will host the Moroccan Zajal Spring Festival organized by the Friends Club of the Culture and Arts of the Marrakesh Association, in partnership with Dar et-Taqafa of the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Culture in Marrakech-Tensift-el-Haouz region. The event will be held February 21-25 under the theme “Zajal in the Service of Heritage and Moroccan Songs” at Dar et-Taqafa in Daoudiyat, and it will witness the participation of more than 30 Zajal poets from and outside of Morocco.
Zajal is part of popular literature and a traditional form of Arabic poetry spoken in colloquial Arabic. It is based on improvisation and often in the form of a debate between some Zajal poets accompanied by rhythmic melodies. The Zajal poetry first appeared in Muslim Andalusia and then spread all over the Arab world, mainly in the Maghreb, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon. Each region has its own specific Zajal style and characteristics that differentiates them from one another.
The Moroccan Zajal Spring Festival will host intellectual and literary seminars, poetry and Zajal readings, an exhibition on Zajal, poetry and short story collections, an art exhibition devoted to paintings and sculptures by Moroccan artists, such as the sculptor Abdel Hafid Taqrit, the calligrapher Husseine Farsaoui, the painter Rachid al-Boundoqi, the artist Sijan Benchakroun, the artist Amine Aber; in addition to a gallery of photographs by artists from various countries.
The festival this year will honor the Zajal poet Cheikh Ahmed Jaibi and the poet Salwa ben Azouz for their generous creativity that marked their era as well as their contributions to national and international innovations in the field of Zajal and Moroccan songs. In a moment of recognition, the humorist and Zajal poet Abdel Aziz al-Bahr will also be honored for his great contribution to the consolidation of humorist Zajal on private radio stations. The festival will also honor two Zajal poets who contributed to the Amazigh Zajal poetry: the Moroccan Zajal poet Mohamed Aouragh, and the Algerian Zajal poet Cheikh al-Yazid.
In this first edition of the festival, 15 Zajal poets from and outside of Morocco will compete in the national competition for Zajal poetry. The judges of the competition will include: Professor Researcher Abdel Rahman Malhouni as head of the panel, Doctor and Professor of Research in Heritage Muley Ali al-Khamri, Professor Loubaba Abu Saad, Professor Mohamed Chlih, Professor and researcher in Moroccan Songs Abdellah Bouchekour, Zajal poet and Researcher Mohamed Briki. This judges will observe and evaluate the performance of the participants and choose a winner at the end of the festival who will be awarded as the Zajal Poet of al-Hamraa Spring.
20 young Zajal poets from the city of Marrakesh will participate in a Zajal evening ceremony in the first two days of the festival to give an opportunity to the aspiring young talents of the city to express their creativity and motivate them to continue and preserve the artistic heritage of Morocco. A group of young artists will also perform Moroccan songs throughout the days of the festival under the supervision of the Moroccan musician and composer Mohamed Menjam, who is also the Artistic Manager of the Moroccan Zajal Spring Festival.
List of participants in the national competition of Zajal in the Moroccan Zajal Spring Festival:
1 – Mohammed Boukhris (Casablanca)
2 – Abdul Salam el-Bouellioui (Marrakesh)
3 – Mohammad Momer (Settat)
4 – Abdul Ghani al-Raghi (Marrakesh)
5 – Ahmed Jaibi (Marrakesh)
6 – Abdul Hafeez Lamtouni (Guercif)
7 – Saadia Salahuddin (Settat)
8 – Hussein Ouarraki (Marrakesh)
9 – Fatima Bouaam (Mohammedia)
10 – Abdul Karim al-Yanousi (Yousoufiya)
11 – Abdellatif Bennani (Fez)
12 – Ahmed Taghi (Sale)
13 – Maryam Benbekhta (Casablanca)
14 – Najib Soulaiman (Bengurir)
15 – Lahcen Badis (Kenitra)
The list of participants in the festival outside the national competition:
1 – Abdul Aziz al-Aadili (Marrakesh)
2 – Hafida Bensakor (Marrakesh)
3 – Ali Marzouq (Yousoufiya)
4 – M’Hamed Sela (Yusufiya)
5 – Malika Fatah al-Islam (Yousoufiya)
6 – Abdul Rahim Aezeki (Marrakech)
7 – Ahmed al-Hamdouchi (Meknes)
8 – Benaissa Abdul Aziz (Al Rashidiya)
10 – Mohammed al-Aasali (Yousoufiya)
11 – Khalid al-Chaqiq (Marrakesh)
12 – Moulay Abdel-Fattah Farqi (Sidi Bou Othman)
13 – Lamis Saadidi (Marrakesh)
14 – Abdul Rahman Baqiya (Marrakesh)
15 –Turia al-Qadi (Casablanca)
List of the poets who will be guests at the festival:
1 – Oueld Mthali Lemrabet bin Ahmed (Mauritania)
2 – Sheikh al-Yazid (Algeria)
3 – Salwa Ben Azouz (Morocco)
4 – Amina Hassim (Morocco)
5 – Jamila Abid (Morocco)
6 – Mohammed Ouaghrar (Morocco)
7 – Abu Khaled (Morocco)
8 – Loubaba Abu Saad (Morocco)
9 – Moulay Rachid al-Alaoui (Morocco)
10 – Al-Hassania Bousselham (Morocco)
11 – Abdullah al-Mahlawi (Morocco)
12 – Imail Oueriq (Morocco)
13 – Ahmed al-Raghi (Morocco)
14 – Al-Alaoui Kamal (Morocco)
15 – Hafida Bensakor (Morocco)
16 – Hassan Benmansour (Morocco)
17 – Ait Ouerhan (Morocco)
18 – Ben Khadija (Morocco)
19 – Amina Oucht (Morocco)
Edited by Benjamin Villanti
Photo by Agendamag.com
© Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved
