A festive atmosphere in the Medina

The "Nights of the Medina" make the alleys of the old city of Fès vibrate to the rhythms of the festival for three days, allowing the Moroccan and foreign public to discover the spiritual, historical, and architectural secrets of this universal heritage of humanity. From 11 to 13 June, the Bab El Makina square is deserted, giving way to three sites in the Medina (Dar Mokri, Dar Adiyel, and the Batha Museum), which host musical performances of great artistic and rhythmic variety. From the very first night of 11 June, the public responded, driven by the thirst to discover the mythical alleys of the Medina and to experience a nocturnal journey that is both artistic and initiatory. The audience at Dar Mokri was immersed in the heart of Persian song and poetry with sisters Mahsa and Marjan Vahdat (Iran). Representing the current evolution of Persian song, the Vahdat sisters highlighted the Persian musical heritage, unique in the Orient, carrying Persian poetry towards new free and open spaces with their voices that soar and intertwine in a true modal labyrinth. The great singer, Ihsane Rmiki, performed for her part at Dar Adiyel, accompanied by the Zaman Al Wasl ensemble, to the great delight of lovers of the art of Andalusian mouwachahates, this prestigious Arab musical tradition that evokes the mythical cities of the Orient: Aleppo, Damascus, Cairo. As for the Batha Museum, it hosted the Guinean storyteller Mory Djely Kouyaté and the French pianist Jean-Philippe Rykiel, who treated the audience to an exceptional show where voice and piano meet and marry to reveal the deep emotion of the African soul. The programming for the second night, 12 June, is as rich and varied as the first. In addition to a concert by Rabbi Haim Louk and the Arab-Andalusian ensemble of Fès, directed by Abderahim Souiri at Dar Mokri, against a backdrop of "matrouz", a musical style which, at the crossroads of Jewish and Arab poetic universes, subtly mixes words in Arabic and Hebrew.

Berber songs should resonate at Dar Adiyel with Cherifa, the poetess of the Middle Atlas. Distinguished by an emotional register that evolves between feelings of rejoicing and suffering and spiritual reflections, Cherifa has this strong voice that tears through the atmosphere and echoes this geography of the mountains, of these volcanic lands so characteristic of the Middle Atlas. Furthermore, the Batha Museum should host a concert presented by the Nour ensemble (France-Iran). With a musical approach that sails from Western sacred polyphonies to the declamation of Persian mystical song, the Nour ensemble inspires a deep serenity from which emanates a true feeling of spiritual voluptuousness, while at the same time restoring an ancient common approach between the Orient and the Occident. The Nights of the Medina should continue on 13 June, with the third and final night, which reserves unique artistic moments for the spectators. At Dar Mokri, they will be able to attend the performance of the Ibn Arabi ensemble (Morocco), which draws inspiration from the repertoire of the zaouïas and the great poets and thus acts as a guarantor of the great Arab-Andalusian tradition. At Dar Adiyel, they will have the opportunity to discover archaic and sacred songs of the Occitan people thanks to the French group "Terra-Maïre", composed of Marie-Ange and Béatrice Lalanne, a mother and her daughter. While at the Batha Museum, they will have the privilege of experiencing the vibrant tribute that will be paid to Mahmoud Darwich through a creation by Rodolphe Burger. On 14 June, the Festival of Sacred Music of the World, initiated by the Spirit of Fès Foundation, will resume its normal rhythm and its traditional appointments with choice musical performances at the Bab El Makina square as well as at the Batha Museum.

"Look, winter is over. The rain has stopped, it is going away. We see flowers in this country. The time for song has arrived." This is an excerpt from one of the poems of the famous Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwich, who died in 2008, and to whom the Fès Festival of Sacred Music of the World will pay a vibrant tribute during the third day of the "Nights of the Medina", through a creation by Rodolphe Burger.

Beyond his blues, rock, and country roots, Rodolphe Burger likes to create a musical universe in constant expansion: between mutant rock, obsessive loops of melancholy, a jungle of samples, acidic or lunar electronics, he opens new horizons of expression where avant-garde and tradition can intermingle. It is towards the roots of Semitic, biblical, and contemporary Arab poetry that this very beautiful musical project in tribute to Mahmoud Darwich carries us.

-* From 11 to 13 June, the Bab El Makina square is deserted, giving way to three sites of the Medina (Dar Mokri, Dar Adiyel, and the Batha Museum) to host musical performances of great artistic and rhythmic variety.

-* The Nights of the Medina should continue on 13 June, with the third and final night, which reserves unique artistic moments for the spectators.

Provider / Source : Afaf Razouki, Le Matin