By Ghizlane S. Idrissi
By Ghizlane S. Idrissi
Morocco World News
Fez, March 22, 2012
On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, ALIF-ALC (Arabic Language Institute of Fez and American Language Center) Photography Club of Fez organized a unique exposition of its kind in homage to Women.
The project’s name is “Women’s Mirror” and it consists of distributing disposable cameras to women, providing them, mainly those living in rural areas and suffering from low living conditions, with the opportunity to express themselves through the eyes of photography, and to make the public discover their daily lives, their feelings towards society, their hopes and dreams.
“Women’s Mirror” generally seeks to strengthen the self-esteem of these and all Moroccan women interested in photography, by instructing them about the rules of taking photos for the first time, and only for a period of six weeks starting from the 1st of January.
The originality of this concept resides in the fact that these photos are taken by women, exactly from the region of Fez-Boulmane and who have nothing to do with photography.
A series of photographs taken by these women have been selected to be displayed at this exhibition. From these shots, true and concrete images of houses, places to live and work emerge to reflect on their lives of everyday. Hence, the public could plunge into the reality and the imagination of each of these learner photographers.
This project was originally brainchild of Omar Chennafi, convener for the ALIF-ALC Photography Club. “Through these photographs we can glimpse into the real lives of these women and how they see themselves in society,” said Chennafi in this regard.
To give an accurate image of the socio-economic conditions of Moroccan women, the participants included Moroccan and foreign women of different ages, backgrounds, and cultural levels, from both urban and rural areas. Through this experience, these women were given the chance to show up how they see themselves in society.
For many of the participants, photography is an unusual activity. “By displaying these pictures, we can show them and the viewers of the exhibition that photography and art are open to everyone, whatever their means” said Chennafi.
“Members of the club have been involved at every level of the project, from finding the women to participate in the project, to distributing the cameras and giving instructions as to their use, collecting cameras, the development and selection of pictures and arranging for the display of the exhibition. The photos that are most relevant, intriguing, and exceptional have been selected for display.” He added.
Lamiae Skalli, a student at Al Akhawayn University in Ifran, and the responsible for the communication of the project said “the project is about an exhibition to represent how Moroccan women live. We try to target women from different social categories, ages, status, and regions.
She went on to say that “the exhibition is about not only highlighting some issues that woman in Morocco face like sexism, oppression and etc, but also their daily and private lives.”
This exposition has been held by Riad ALIF at Fez, 6, Derb Drissi, Batha. It started at March 10 and runs until the 24th.
Ghizlane Staouti is a Moroccan national. She is a third year student of English and Cultural Studies at the University of Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah, Fez. She worked as a language partner and a tutor of Arabic and Moroccan Arabic with the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) American Program in summer time of 2011. She also worked as an organizer with the National Competition of Creative Writing. Currently, she is an active member of the Moroccan Association of Friends of English (MAFE). Ghizlane also took part in various social, cultural and scholar activities. She writes poetry in English Arabic and French. She is Morocco World News’ Correspondent (Email: [email protected])
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