Onze Lunes au Maroc

In 1982, Titouan Lamazou, a young artist – who hadn’t yet earned a name for himself as a great navigator – and his partner Karin Huet – a writer – travelled on muleback, from one Ramadan to another, across the delightful valleys of the Berber lands. In those days, the upper valleys of Ait Bou Gmez and Ayt Bou Oulli were extremely difficult to access and blocked by snow for four months of the year. The two travellers learned the Berber language before they left. From their stay in the Moroccan High Atlas, Karin brought back a rare and unique narrative that sheds light on the daily lives and courage of the women in these mountains. Meanwhile, Titouan filled several sketchbooks with sketches, paintings and architectural designs.

To get involved in the local community, they studied traditional Islamic ornamentation and offered their services as interior decorators. After completing two décors, they realized that local inspiration was far more subtle and original than what they had initially merely taken to be the naïve reproduction of complex Arabic interlacing stars. To understand the charm and specificity of this folk art, Titouan photographed all the painted décors in sixty or so villages in both valleys. Today, the ethnological dimension of these precious and touching accounts springs to the fore.