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PEOPLE & CULTURE
[03/19/2008 - 11:10]
The history of Morocco in São Paulo

The Ministry of Culture of the Arab country, in partnership with FAAP College, is going to promote, starting on the 31st, exhibition 'Morocco'. Around 500 archaeological, ethnic, handwritten, painted and photographed objects are going to show the riches of the Moroccan people.

Marina Sarruf*
marina.sarruf@anba.com.br

São Paulo – Starting on the 31st of March, Brazilians will be able to learn more about the history of Morocco. The fact is that the Ministry of Culture of the Arab country, in partnership with Armando Álvares Penteado College (FAAP), brings to São Paulo exhibition "Morocco", to bring together 500 items from the most important museums of Morocco. The exhibition, to take place at the FAAP Brazilian Art Museum, should be open to the public up to June 22.

"The objective of the exhibition is to strengthen cultural relations between developing countries and also to show Brazilian people the rich components of Moroccan culture," said to ANBA the director of Cultural Assets at the Ministry of Culture of Morocco, Abdellah Salih, one of the organizers of the fair. According to him, this kind of action brings the nations closer together and permits greater mutual knowledge of each society for a true partnership.

The idea of organising an exhibition about the Arab country at FAAP arose in 2006, when the ambassador of Morocco to Brazilian capital Brasília, Farida Jaïdi, was invited to make an official visit to the college. At the time, FAAP museum was organising an exhibition about Greece. "It was a large exhibition and there were many objects. I was impressed, so I suggested the organisation of an exhibition about Morocco," said the ambassador. Since then, she has been working for the exhibition to take place.

According to Farida, the promotion of the fair in 2008 is not by chance. "This will be an important year as there will be the second Summit of Arab and South American Countries," she said. The meeting of heads of state is scheduled to take place in the second half of the year, in Doha, the capital of Qatar. "I hope that the exhibition may show a little more of the culture of Morocco, which is very rich," added the ambassador.

According to Salih, the exhibition should contribute not only to bringing two peoples closer together, but also to increasing the tourist flow between both countries. The director of Cultural Assets of Morocco should come to Brazil together with the minister of Culture of the Arab country, Touria Jabrane Kryatif, and with other representatives of cultural institutions in Morocco.

The exhibition

Morocco, which is located in North Africa, is close to the European continent, which resulted in centuries of reciprocal exchange and domination. Even with a strong mixture of cultures and great foreign influences, Morocco never lost its true identity. The works to be presented in São Paulo are going to try to show a little of this history, from ancient times to date.

The exhibition should be divided into four parts. First, "The Origins" which includes articles like decorated vases from the Neolithic period and cave drawings from the Bronze Age. Ancient times and the centuries up to the Muslim period are illustrated by Moroccan objects for daily use.

The second part, called "Traditional Arts", brings aspects of the spiritual and intellectual practices of daily life in the cities and the country. To represent this art, several objects should be exhibited, like jewels, embroidered products, fabrics, garments, ceramics and weapons. In this part, those visiting the exhibition can also see a scenographic space showing the interior of a Moroccan home. Rooms with chests, sculpted wooden shelves, a floor covered in typical Moroccan carpets, cushions and mirrors are also part of this scenery.

Then comes "The eye of travelling orientalists and painters", which goes from the second half of the 19th century to the mid-20th century. In this section, the exhibition is going to show the outlook of foreign artists, painters, writers and photographers who visited the country, considered an excellent destination that exerts strong influence on and fascinates visitors.

Lastly comes "Contemporary Art", which brings paintings and photographs of Moroccan artists who show a panorama of contemporary artistic production in the Arab country.

Service

Exhibition "Morocco"
Date: March 31 to June 22
Site: FAAP Brazilian Art Museum
Address: Rua Alagoas, 903, Higienópolis, São Paulo
Time: Tuesdays to Fridays from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm
Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Further information: (+55 11) 3662-7198
Free admittance

*Translated by Mark Ament

chicagotribune.com
FILM FESTIVAL
European Union film fest comes to Siskel Center

By Michael Phillips

Tribune movie critic
The dollar may not be much against the euro these days, but your dollar can buy a very impressive line-up of films offered by the Gene Siskel Film Center's 11th annual European Union Film Festival. This year's slate, running March 7 through April 3, zigzags from Slovenia to Ireland, constituting 61 features from 26 nations, many represented by EU co-productions between various countries. Stories of boundaries crossed and yearning unquenched will grace the screen, though grace itself is hard to come by in films such as the Austrian "Import Export," which paints a blackly comic, sexually explicit picture of an EU in constant economic and emotional flux.

Visit siskelfilmcenter.org, or call 312-846-2800.

'Estrellita' 2 1/2 stars (fair-good) (Slovenia; Matod Pevec, 2007) Each year the Film Center's European Union Film Festival opens with a film from the country currently heading up the EU itself. Thus we have Slovenian writer-director Pevec's well-acted if rather schematic melodrama starting things off with what might be termed a soft launch. It begins with the death of a concert violinist. His widow (Silva Cusin) and her son soon learn of the violinist's infidelities. At the funeral, a mysterious 12-year-old Bosnian immigrant turns up as a mourner. Taking its title from the nickname of the dead man's cherished instrument, "Estrellita" uses a debate over who owns the violin as a way of exploring various fragmenting relationships. The film might be more vibrant if the boy (played by Tadej Troha) weren't the sort of serenely angelic wonder who belongs more to the movies than to life. But the scenes between the boy's parents, coping with money issues and an eroding love, compensate for some of the contrivances. In Slovenian with English subtitles. 7 p.m. March 7; 3:15 p.m. March 9. --Michael Phillips

'Import Export' 3 stars (good) (Austria; Ulrich Seidl, 2007) Guaranteed to alienate as many audience members as it draws into its web, Seidl's astonishingly grungy odyssey follows the story of a nurse from Ukraine, moonlighting as a sex worker, who heads to Austria to expand her horizons. Meantime, an unemployed Vienna man and his debauched stepfather journey to another corner of the EU and find only the outer limits of their own corroded world-view. It's often painful to watch, and the scenes with the decrepit residents of a hospital ward dressed up for a macabre holiday celebration border on the exploitative (not to mention scenes with the stepfather's prostitute). But Seidl's wry, stately sense of composition is consistently well-considered, and he's getting at a sense of dislocated, blasted souls looking for a home in a way few other directors can match. In German, Russian and Slovak with English subtitles. 2:30 p.m. March 8; 6 p.m. March 11--Michael Phillips

'How to Cook Your Life' 3 stars (good) (Germany; Doris Dorrie, 2007). Once upon a time, Chef Edward Espe Brown was a real jerk. He was, according to his own recollection, arrogant and short-tempered, lacking in patience for the natural rhythms of cooking. He wanted everything done right, and he wanted it done 10 minutes ago. And then he found Zen Buddhism. Or maybe it found him--sometimes it's hard to tell. In any case, Brown and Buddhism met and fell in love, and now Brown teaches other aspiring Buddhists to cook in harmony with Zen principles: essentially, be aware of what you're putting into your body, its origins and how it feels, tastes and smells. What does it mean to prepare food for others? How do our food choices affect our surroundings? Although it occasionally threatens to take itself too seriously, on the whole this sumptuous, beautifully shot documentary, the latest from veteran German filmmaker Dorrie ("Men," "Enlightenment Guaranteed"), is as unpretentious and refreshing as the food it celebrates. In English and German with English subtitles. 5 p.m. March 8; 6 p.m. March 12.--Jessica Reaves

'Boarding Gate' one-half star (sub-poor) (France; Olivier Assayas, 2007). Oh, Olivier Assayas, if only you had quit while you were ahead. You might have sailed into early retirement on the redemptive fumes of "Clean," your bracing 2004 collaboration with Maggie Cheung. Instead, you let yourself slide into the muck, tapping the wildly untalented Asia Argento for this demeaning, nonsensical and ultimately stultifying chronicle of sad sacks who make consistently stupid choices. Unless you are absolutely desperate to watch Kim Gordon (of Sonic Youth) deliver a few lines of dialogue, there is absolutely no reason to subject yourself to this cinematic disaster. 9 p.m. March 8; 8 p.m. March 12.--Jessica Reaves

'Priceless' 3 stars (good) (France; Pierre Salvadori, 2006). French gamin Audrey Tautou stars as Irene, a mistress looking to make a permanent alliance with a man of means. She makes a professional misstep when she encounters Gad Elmaleh as Jean, a hapless dog walker/bartender at a Biarritz resort. Misreading his tuxedoed self for a younger, fitter, richer sugar-daddy model, Irene ends up dumped, and Jean abandons his job to pursue her. She teaches him the craft of paid companionship, and faux romance blossoms into real love. This comedy benefits from leads with distinctive eyes--hers saucer-sized, his hang-dog--employed to impressive effect. In French with English subtitles. 3 p.m. March 9.--Maureen M. Hart

'Kicks' 3 stars (good) (Netherlands; Albert ter Heerdt, 2007). The format owes a lot to "Crash," but this culture-clash plot line is leavened with more humor than 2005's best-picture Oscar winner. The shooting of a Moroccan immigrant by a Dutch cop prone to racist patter (if not intentions) sets off reverberations in the immigrant and native-born communities. While the victim's kick-boxer brother Said (Mimoun Oaissa) works to keep the peace among inflamed local youths (and reassesses his relationship with his blond girlfriend), a Dutch filmmaker (Roeland Fernhout) invites trouble with a crackpot idea for a film about the immigrant situation. In Dutch and Arabic with English subtitles. 2:45 p.m. March 8; 8 p.m. March 10.--Maureen M. Hart

Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune

A brush with Moroccan art
Published: 19th February 2008

MOROCCAN art, music and fashion will come under the spotlight in a three-day cultural festival to be hosted in Bahrain on April 29.

The Al Bareh Moroccan Cultural Festival, organised by Al Bareh Gallery of Assorted Arts, will be held under the patronage of Injaz executive director Shaikha Hessa bint Khalifa Al Khalifa.

Gallery general manager Hayfa Al Jishi said the festival aimed to introduce the audience, both Bahrainis and visitors, to the traditions, habits and arts that identify and distinguish the Moroccan culture.

"It is also an opportunity for the Moroccan people to demonstrate their various forms of assorted arts, music, fashion, architecture, handicrafts and cuisine - and to what extent they epitomise and reflect social value and creativity," she said.

"A collection of lectures and specialised workshops comprise the festival's programme to benefit from the artistic techniques and experiences offered by Moroccan culture.

"The notable focus on Morocco this year is a way of appreciating the country's history, civilisations, heritage, its geographic proximity to Europe and its various successive civilisations which influenced a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural taste that remarkably distinguishes the identity of Moroccan culture today."

© Gulf Daily News