Crowds stream through Bab Boujloud, the 11th century gate that is

C
rowds stream through Bab Boujloud, the 11th century
gate that is perhaps the most photographed entrance
into Fez al-Bali, the ancient medina of this Moroccan city.
While Boujloud's blue and green tiles glint under a setting
sun, the immense square outside the gate swarms with people
jockeying for position along brick ramps and across the open
spaces of Place Pacha el-Baghdadi.
As home-town guests at one of the free concerts featured
in the annual Fez Festival of World Sacred Music, these
Fassis (people of Fez) are in for a treat. This evening's gig
by Johnny Clegg is a reprise of last night's performance at
a more upscale venue, Bab Makina. There, in an outdoor
theatre fronting the royal palace, a well-heeled audience
had danced in the aisles to the sounds of Clegg, also as
"the White Zulu", and his South African band. Here in Place
Pacha el-Baghdadi, the kids of the medina do the same, but
with more abandon. The little ones squeal as they spin on
carousels improvised from the circular bases of unused flag
stands, while their older brothers toss caps and sometimes
their smaller siblings, in the air.
Two nights earlier, the Festival, now in its 13th year,
opened under the "royal patronage of His Majesty
Mohammed VI" who, in his opening remarks, cited
Morocco's cultural and spiritual capital, as a natural to
such an event.
had
King
Fez,
host
Before the Festival's first performance, royal guards stood
to attention as Morocco's Princess Consort Lalla Salma,
Princess Lalla Meryem, the sister of Mohammed VI, Her
Majesty Queen Rania AI-Abdullah of Jordan and Madame
Bernadette Chirac, former first lady of France, as guests
of honour, were escorted to their front-line seats amid the
hubbub and flashing cameras of an enthusiastic crowd.
Outside, onlookers in jellabas (the hooded cloaks worn by
both men and women in Morocco), headscarves and a few in
fancy western dress, lined the streets leading to Bab Makina's
palace courtyard and its crenellated walls, hoping to catch a
glimpse of ticketed festival goers decamping from chaufferdriven cars. Its grand courtyard now fitted with a concert
stage, seating for a thousand spectators and snack stands
ready to serve up Moroccan specialities and Haaqan Dazs
ice cream, Bab Makina was ready for action.
The opening concert featured the Christian sacred music
of Handel, Pergolesi and others, performed by US-born
Barbara Hendricks and Sweden's Baroque Ensemble of
Drottningholm. Starry skies and almost hallucinogenic purple
and orange stage lighting provided a back-drop for hawks
that swooped and dipped with the music. Half-way through
Pergolesi's Stabat Mater the call to prayer sounded out from
the city's many minarets, but this caused barely a flutter
across the audience and no notice at all was taken by the
musicians. The highlight of the evening was an acapella
negro spiritual medley by Ms Hendricks, a personal favourite
of hers that she first performed in 2002 for the East Tlrnor
Independence Day Ceremony.
The Fez World Sacred Music Festival was established after
the first Gulf War, with the aim of demonstrating the possibilities for reconciling the Christian, Jewish and Muslim worlds
through music. Speaking to the media after her concert,
Barbara Hendricks noted the importance of musical "conversations" that cross cultural boundaries. This, she stressed,
can only serve to mutually reinforce one's own cultural
identity while broadening one's understanding of other traditions. During another Bab Makina performance, Angelique
Kidju, an internationally known Beninese singer now living
in New York, posed the question "Is it possible to keep your
own culture and identity in a complex, global community?"
Perhaps in partial answer, members of the audience joined
her onstage for one of her Afropop songs, "Ae Ae," which
laments the necessity for young Africans to move abroad to
improve their lives.
Photos: Tom Fakler
The Andalusian gardens of Oar Batha Museum, formerly a
palace, provided an intimate setting for afternoon performances among jacarandas and flowering shrubs. There, under
an ancient Barbary oak, musicians were accompanied by
unseen songbirds. For the performance I attended, the
Iranian singer Parissa and the acclaimed Dastan Ensemble
playing traditional instruments celebrated the poetry of Rumi
and other mystical poets as the birds twittered along. Even
though most of the audience did not understand Farsi, the
group enthralled them for more than an hour, and with the
circular rhythms and celebratory mood of the performance,
time flew.
Perhaps my favorite performance of the festival was the firstever public offering of Ayin-i Djern, the official ceremony of
the Mevlevi sufis of Turkey. It was performed by members
of the Kadiria and Mawlawiya brotherhoods, and featured
dervishes whirling to mesmerising music led by Turkish reed
flute master Kudsi Erguner. The dervishes whirled for more
than an hour, their graceful movements apparently unscripted
but completely synchronised with the music and chanting
that accompanied them. This was the most spiritual of the
Festival events I attended, with those on stage apparently
oblivious to the audience observing the ancient invocations.
When they were done, the singers, musicians and dancers
bowed solemnly before leaving the darkened stage. After they
had gone, the audience filed quietly out of the Bab Makina
theatre. This thoughtful ending was in stark contrast to the
lively applause and animated conversations that followed
most festival concerts.
Does the Fez World Sacred Music Festival fulfil its stated
aim of promoting brotherhood across cultures and spiritual traditions? Do the performances of the festival demonstrate challenges to culture and identity? I cannot answer
these questions from my brief exposure to this year's festival.
The festival offers a fine sampler of Islamic music, presented
in harmony with other spiritual traditions. And Fez itself is,
as the king promised, just the right place to experience such
a variety of sacred, spiritual, or just plain spirited, musical
offerings.
_
Fez, Morocco's oldest imperial city
Fez is Morocco's third-largest city, with just over a million
inhabitants. Its medina, Fez al-8ali, is one of the largest car-free
urban areas in the world, occupying 889 acres of land. The only
means of transport in the medina are feet, bicycles, and donkeys.
Founded in the ninth century and home to the world's oldest
university, Fez reached its height in the 13th-14th centuries
under the Merenids, replacing Marrakesh as the capital of the
kingdom. Although the political capital of Morocco was transferred to Rabat in 1912, Fez retained its status as the country's
cultural and spiritual centre. It was named a UNESCO World
Heritage City in 1981. In April, the Organization of the Islamic
Conference designated the city as one of four capitals of
Islamic culture for 2007, along with Tripoli, Tashkent and Dakar.