Sous les toits de terre

1976 - Titouan Lamazou is Éric Tabarly’s crewmember. During a stopover in Morocco, the crew is welcomed by André Fougerolles. This “old Moroccan” is intimately acquainted with the Atlas mountains and has explored the delightful Berber valleys throughout his life; having mapped and listed their every detour, no one knows them better than he.

1978 – Upon his return from the round-the-world race on the Pen-Duick, Titouan remembers Morocco and goes back there. André Fougerolles introduces him to “his” mountains. A fifteen-day stay turns into two months in winter, lodging with Moroccan mountain dwellers when he is blocked by snow. Two months for him to succumb to the seduction of this world at the margins of world history, and to carry away the frustration of never being able to penetrate its secrets.

Titouan decides, with his partner, to prepare an extended stay in the High Atlas. They learn Tachlhiyt at the Langues Orientales school in Paris, and research Berber customs and traditions.

1981-1982 – From one Ramadan to another, Karin and Titouan share the Berber mountain-dwelling lifestyle for one year.

While decorating two ceilings in the home of their Moroccan hosts over the long Berber winter, Karin and Titouan become aware of the quality, identity and importance of Berber decorative painting which, until that point, had never inspired the homage of any other champions of these inexhaustibly rich upper valleys.