Marrakesh pageant celebrates Morocco’s poetic and musical traditions

Morocco’s Kasbah Melhoun Artwork Pageant celebrated the dominion’s poetry and conventional devices throughout a 6-day occasion.

All-women troupes notably stood out whereas the Al Hadhra and Melhoun genres got here below the highlight.

Member Amina Bouyabri explains what differentiates the 2 genres.

“The Marrakech Hadra shares many traits with melhoun artwork, as each observe comparable guidelines. The primary distinction is that Al Hadra is solely for ladies, the place they recite poetry and delightful prose. Melhoun is distinguished by its phrases and poetry, and each varieties have distinctive phrases.”

If Al Hadra nearly solely consists within the singing of prayers, inescapable themes in melhoun embody the great thing about individuals and nature, social points and love.

Melhoun was included in UNESCO’s Consultant Checklist of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December final yr.

“By Laabat, we purpose to deliver this artwork to the youth, moms and most of the people, to make them blissful and revel in our performances,” Singer Rkia Ouamani says.

“This ensures the continuation of this necessary heritage into the longer term.”

The verses are sung in dialectical Arabic and generally Hebrew.

Up to now, the follow was transmitted informally, by way of apprenticeships with vocalists and transcribers notably.

In the present day, it is usually transmitted by way of organizations and music conservatories.

Transmission by way of enchantment is exactly the organizer’s purpose: “We tried to concentrate on the technical and inventive elements of this pageant, bringing collectively the concepts of a number of inventive teams who work with melhoun. Our objective is to current a wealthy degree of melhoun artwork in Marrakech, (notably) within the Kasbah, and to supply a powerful spectacle for the individuals of Marrakech in addition to for everybody else.”

The second version of the Kasbah Melhoun Artwork Pageant featured varied actions, reminiscent of an exhibition of books written by melhoun sheikhs or students.