"Hagettek Negettek" (once-upon-a-time)

Carnival procession + Masks & Costumes Making Workshops for Children

21-24th July 2004
Ras el Maa, ChefChaouen, Morocco

OPALA GROUP:
Ada Gadomski, Barbara Fuchs, Milan Prodanovic, Sohail Boumri, Naoufal Boumri

II JOURNEES THEATRALES DE CHEFCHAOUEN, MOROCCO

The Journees Theatrales Festival aimed at promoting intercultural exchange through popular artistic forms, bringing together artists and the local community.

During the week of 20th to the 26th of July, the streets, corners, squares, and Kasbah of Chefchaouen were transformed in magical spaces full of life, that spoke and breathed to the rythm of Moroccan culture (berber, rifain, andalousi…), and the culture of Britain, Spain, France, Finland, Belgium. The city corners were lit with candles, gas and oil lamps to transport us to the desert of the tuaregs, the Caribbean markets, or the Finnish firedances.

These activities explore the possibilities of popular theatre and other arts as vehicles for cultural and human development.

THE CITY OF CHEFCHAOUEN

Chefchaouen is a beautiful city, looked after by its inhabitants, as tourism is very important for the local economy. It is a city by many referred to as "the hidden jewell" of northern Morocco. A winding bumpy road leads from the coast and Tetouan, through the brooding landscape of the Rif Mountains, to a wide valley where the city nests, hiding the medina and trademark blue & white houses.

Despite its beauty, the Chefchaouen province suffers the biggest economic and cultural lack of development in Morocco (70% of the population is illiterate, in the countryside up to 100%). One of the consequences is lack of cultural, artistic and educational activities, children and women being the most deprived groups.

THE WORKSHOPS

Our workshops were an experiment never tried before in Chefchaouen.

There are not many creative opportunities for children outside the school times, and resources are scarce. Boys usualy play in the streets or by the riverside. Girls stay indoors and learn weaving, henna painting and housework. They are all incredibly talented in the arts - with an inborn sense for rythm and dancing, and natural capacity for drawing, stilisation and decorative patterns. Boys and girls hardly ever mix or play together, and this was a habit we wanted to challenge.

We didn't advertise the workshops in any way, as this would target a more priviledged group. We simply set up shop and welcomed over 80 local boys and girls that joined us freely over the 4 days as the work progressed. We created masks and costumes using cardboard, paint, glue, string and lots of immagination. Barbara brought rolls of brightly coloured fabric from the UK - leftovers from opera and theatre productions she worked on - so children had a chance to try on silks and organzas and cottons used for singers, dancers and actors in theatre.

Children were unfamiliar with our working methods and treatment of materials. They were at first unruly and hyperactive, but they proved very responsive to the attention and care we gave them and showed a hightened capacity for learning. They soon took down any guard towards us and we developed strong bonds with them. Tthey would show up early every morning bringing a few more friends, inpatiently waiting for us to arrive and helping us set-up. Their parents would sometimes send us drinking water or come to help, as we were working during the hottest hours of the day.

THE CARNIVAL PROCESSION

The culmination of our work was a festive carnival procession through the streets of the town. Friends, parents, and international artists came to watch the procession and take part in the general havoc.

A long trail of children masked and costumed, waiving flags, blowing trumpets and whistles and dancing, made its way from Ras El Maas through the narrow streets of blue & white houses and tiny craft shops, to the main square - the Plaza Uta el-Hammam - and the majestic Kasbah. It was a colourful and noisy eruption of energy, and the first time ever that children performed to the public in the main square. In the local customs this meant that they "are of importance". Only important people appear publicly in the main square.

CONCLUSION

By the third day of workshops word must have spread around about what we were doing. We started receiving people who came to look around and enquire, and parents from the other side of town, who would bring in their children and leave them with us, to come and pick them up later. This was particularly significant as many of the newcomers were girls. It was great to have them work with us in a public space outdoors, and together with boys. We had a great range of kids from different backgrounds too, all working together and sharing. This was quite an achievement.

We have roughly estimated that 47 boys and 13 girls took part in the 3 days of workshops, and about 20 more joined us on the day of the procession.We counted over 40 costumes and 90 masks, but effectively many more were made every day, and children took them home.

A few days after the festival had ended, we were strolling about the streets admiring the city. Every now and then we would hear a trumper or whistle sound coming from inside one of the blue & white houses in the medina, and children laughing. I knew these were the homes of our kids, and I imagined them wearing our costumes and jumping about re-living the carnival. I like to think there is still a trumpet or ribbon hanging on a wall in someone's room now, waiting for the next time we come to Chefchaouen.

Ada Gadomski