Amazigh Arts in Morocco: Women Shaping Berber Identity

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments This book was a communal endeavor that involved numerous people, including my family in Morocco: Mama Lhacen and her children Zohra, Brahim, Fatima, Erqia, Ali, and Khira Ouadderrou. Brahim’s wife, Khadija, and their children Najat, Nora, Seham, Muhammad, and Hamza further enriched my life in Morocco. Ali’s wife, Fatima, and their children Hamid and Hassan as well as Fatima Ouadderrou’s daughter Erqia and her granddaughter Khadija welcomed me every time I visited Morocco, ensuring that I will feel at home for years to come. In addition, Youssef Kherbouch always offered a helping hand. Their acceptance and unconditional love provided me with entrance into Mezguida, a place I consider to be my second home. I especially wish to acknowledge the young women of Mezguida, many of whom have married and left the village, for their companionship and for dancing with me at weddings as well as the female elders who shared their intimate knowledge of wedding songs and life in the past. I am also thankful to the many people in Mezguida, Rissani, Erfoud, Merzouga, Haselbait, Khamlia,Tabat el Khir, and Hafira for inviting me to join in their wedding celebrations and tolerating the presence of my camera, allowing me to participate in and record their lives. TheBouganigandTaghlaouifamiliesopenedtheirhomestome.TheIsmkhan of Khamlia patiently shared with me the details of their annual festival and healing ceremonies. ManyothershaveassistedmeinMoroccosincemyfirstvisitin1993.Thanks to all of those involved in the Sijilmasa project, especially Jim Miller, and the Centre d’Études et de Recherches Alaouites in Rissani, in particular Zohra Meddiki and Fatima Boualwan.The artists Farid Belkahia, Mohamed Mallal, Fatima Mellal, Mohamed Ziyani, Muhand Saidi, and Hamid Kachmar and the poet Omar Taws shared their ideas and artistic inspiration with me. Abdeltif xii amazigh arts in morocco Kich from the Musée de Marrakech provided me with insight into contemporary art in Morocco. Salem Chaker from the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (inalco) in Paris, Rachid Ouzennou from the Abrid AssociationinErfoud,andMustaphaBerhouchisharedtheirknowledgeabout contemporary Amazigh issues. The support of my former colleagues at the University of St.Thomas was invaluable to me. Joanne Eicher and an anonymous reviewer read the entire manuscript, providing mewith useful commentary. I especially wish to thank Lotus Stack, the textile curator at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, who generously shared her knowledge of Moroccan textiles and always encouraged my scholarship. Evelyne Disdier at the Maison Méditerranéenne des Sciences de l’Homme, Cécile Blouin Boquien from the Institut du Monde Arabe, and theNationalAnthropologicalArchivesattheSmithsonianInstitutionassisted me with images. David Kelley made the book’s map. Special thanks to my colleagues from the Department of Art History and the African Studies Center at Boston University. I would also like to thank the faculty at my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and the friends I made while I was a graduate student, especially Andrea Frohne and Professor Lois Anderson, the ethnomusicologist who encouraged me to analyze Ait Khabbash performances. My former graduate advisor Henry Drewal provided the intellectual support that made this book possible. He continues to mentor my academic endeavors and inspires me with his great energy and passionforAfricanarts.Mostofallheisawell-respectedandcherishedfriend. Financial support for this study was provided by a long-term and shorttermgrantfromtheAmericanInstituteofMaghrebStudies ,aFulbrightGrant, a Title VI Foreign Language Fellowship for Arabic, and a University Fellowship from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Research assistance grants from the University of St.Thomas provided me with release time for further research and writing. I also thankWendy Moore from the University of Texas Press for assisting me with the publication process. Finally, I thank my entire family in New Orleans and especially my parents , George and Kathleen Becker, and my brother Scott, who supported my interest in African arts and my travels around the world without question. In particular I am grateful to my mother, whose initiation to international travel was her trip across the Atlantic to Morocco to check on her daughter. Andrée Bouterie and Victoria Giambrone provided friendship and emotional support. And I profoundly pay tribute to Addi Ouadderrou for all his patient helpinMoroccoandintheUnitedStates.Henurturedmyunderstandingoflife acknowledgments xiii in Morocco and spent numerous hours transcribing and translating cassette recordings and videotapes of Ait Khabbash songs fromTamazight to English. He happilyaccompanied me on my numerous jaunts to remote desert villages andtonomadicweddings,expertlynavigatingourRenaultIVondesertroads, always ready for the next adventure. THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK ...