Morocco's vibrant culture is deeply intertwined with music and dance, reflecting a rich tapestry of influences from Berber, Arabic, African, European, and Jewish traditions. From ancient rituals to celebratory occasions like weddings, the country pulsates with diverse rhythms and graceful movements. Ghiaytas Dance Ghiaytas, a traditional dance of the Haha Berber tribes in the Atlas Mountains, serves as a prelude to battle, showcasing the courage of young warriors. Rifles balanced on their heads, dancers perform intricate spins and pretend to engage in combat, accompanied by the rhythmic beat of reed flutes and percussion. This ancient tradition, marked by its solemnity and martial spirit, continues to be revered as a cultural heritage. Ouais Dance Ouais, danced predominantly at weddings, exhibits graceful and fluid movements reminiscent of ballet. Women adorned in vibrant attire sway to the enchanting melodies of one-stringed fiddles and small mandolins, accompanied by rhythmic beats from cast iron percussion. The dance, characterized by its elegance and precision, offers a captivating spectacle that celebrates joy and festivity. Ahidous Dance Ahidous, a cherished dance of the Middle Atlas Berbers, brings together men and women in a circular formation. With alternating shoulder-to-shoulder positions, dancers combine lyrical songs with rhythmic clapping and tambourine beats. Adorned in traditional attire, including vibrant cloaks and jewelry, participants create a visually stunning performance that reflects the region's cultural heritage. Houara Dance Originating from the Agadir region, the Houara dance is a dynamic display of strength and vitality. Men and women engage in spirited movements, characterized by intricate steps and intense energy. With solo performances interspersed within the group dance, participants captivate audiences with their passionate expression and skillful coordination. Taskiwin Dance Taskiwin, a martial dance recognized by UNESCO, hails from the High Atlas Mountains. Dancers wield ornate horns known as Tiskt while moving to the rhythms
Morocco’s vibrant culture is deeply intertwined with music and dance, reflecting a rich tapestry of influences from Berber, Arabic, African, European, and Jewish traditions. From ancient rituals to celebratory occasions like weddings, the country pulsates with diverse rhythms and graceful movements.
Ghiaytas Dance
Ghiaytas, a traditional dance of the Haha Berber tribes in the Atlas Mountains, serves as a prelude to battle, showcasing the courage of young warriors. Rifles balanced on their heads, dancers perform intricate spins and pretend to engage in combat, accompanied by the rhythmic beat of reed flutes and percussion. This ancient tradition, marked by its solemnity and martial spirit, continues to be revered as a cultural heritage.
Ouais Dance
Ouais, danced predominantly at weddings, exhibits graceful and fluid movements reminiscent of ballet. Women adorned in vibrant attire sway to the enchanting melodies of one-stringed fiddles and small mandolins, accompanied by rhythmic beats from cast iron percussion. The dance, characterized by its elegance and precision, offers a captivating spectacle that celebrates joy and festivity.
Ahidous Dance
Ahidous, a cherished dance of the Middle Atlas Berbers, brings together men and women in a circular formation. With alternating shoulder-to-shoulder positions, dancers combine lyrical songs with rhythmic clapping and tambourine beats. Adorned in traditional attire, including vibrant cloaks and jewelry, participants create a visually stunning performance that reflects the region’s cultural heritage.
Houara Dance
Originating from the Agadir region, the Houara dance is a dynamic display of strength and vitality. Men and women engage in spirited movements, characterized by intricate steps and intense energy. With solo performances interspersed within the group dance, participants captivate audiences with their passionate expression and skillful coordination.
Taskiwin Dance
Taskiwin, a martial dance recognized by UNESCO, hails from the High Atlas Mountains. Dancers wield ornate horns known as Tiskt while moving to the rhythms of flutes and tambourines. This ancient tradition, endangered by modernization, serves as a testament to Morocco’s cultural heritage and the resilience of its traditional arts.
Al-Qarawiyyin Library : the reading room It was founded in 859 AD. by Fatima al-Fihri, the daughter of a wealthy merchant, educated herself , devoted her significant legacy to building and founding a mosque and a school in her community in the city of Fez, now known as Qarawiyyin University, the oldest graduate institution in the world. The Al-Qarawiyyin Library has been in operation since the 10th century and is believed to be the oldest library in the world. After years of neglect, the library is being renovated as part of a program of regeneration and restoring of the Medina, the historic pedestrianized district of Fez, built in the late 8th and early 9th century. In honor of its founder, the woman responsible for the restoration of the library is a woman of Moroccan descent from Canada, the architect Aziza Chaouni. Inside the library there are decorated wood-carved frames and arches, colorful ceramic tiles on the floors and elegant Arabic calligraphy engraved on its walls. The high ceilings in the reading room are decorated with golden chandeliers. A plank of wood that is said to Fatima al-Fihri's diploma, founder of Al-Qarawiyyin. Al-Qarawiyyin university decorated wood-carved frames and arches "There was a need for an extensive restoration to preserve the building and the manuscripts," said Abdullah al-Henda, a member of the restoration team that has worked since 2012. "There were problems with sewage leaks, alterations and cracks in the walls in different parts of the library. » The library is full of extremely rare and some unique books and manuscripts and there are more than 4,000 of them , including a 9th century Koran written on camel's skin with a kind of beautiful calligraphy called Kufic , as well as the first known Islamic Hadith and an original manuscript of Mukkadimah,
Al-Qarawiyyin Library : the reading room
It was founded in 859 AD. by Fatima al-Fihri, the daughter of a wealthy merchant, educated herself , devoted her significant legacy to building and founding a mosque and a school in her community in the city of Fez, now known as Qarawiyyin University, the oldest graduate institution in the world. The Al-Qarawiyyin Library has been in operation since the 10th century and is believed to be the oldest library in the world. After years of neglect, the library is being renovated as part of a program of regeneration and restoring of the Medina, the historic pedestrianized district of Fez, built in the late 8th and early 9th century. In honor of its founder, the woman responsible for the restoration of the library is a woman of Moroccan descent from Canada, the architect Aziza Chaouni. Inside the library there are decorated wood-carved frames and arches, colorful ceramic tiles on the floors and elegant Arabic calligraphy engraved on its walls. The high ceilings in the reading room are decorated with golden chandeliers.
A plank of wood that is said to Fatima al-Fihri’s diploma, founder of Al-Qarawiyyin.Al-Qarawiyyin universitydecorated wood-carved frames and arches
“There was a need for an extensive restoration to preserve the building and the manuscripts,” said Abdullah al-Henda, a member of the restoration team that has worked since 2012. “There were problems with sewage leaks, alterations and cracks in the walls in different parts of the library. »
The library is full of extremely rare and some unique books and manuscripts and there are more than 4,000 of them , including a 9th century Koran written on camel’s skin with a kind of beautiful calligraphy called Kufic , as well as the first known Islamic Hadith and an original manuscript of Mukkadimah, a world history written in 1377 by the philosopher Ibn Khaldun , which many scholars consider the first exploration of the fields we know today as sociology, historiography, demography and other social sciences. It is especially important that today we have a book written by his hand, as after graduating from Qarawiyyin University he began his career as a calligrapher at the Chancellery of Tunis. Shortly afterwards ,when he moved to Fez , he worked on writing the royal proclamations for the Sultan.
Quaraouiyine Oldest known and documented MD degree delivered in the worldAn original manuscript by Ibn Rochd on Maliki jurisprudence written in Andalusian style calligraphy at the al-Qarawiyyin mosque9th century Quran written on leather with Kufic calligraphy at Al-Qarawiyyin library.
“When you read a book, you travel in history. When you see a manuscript that is almost ten or more centuries old, you are traveling through time. Like I said, the library brings you closer to the “spiritual” for these and other reasons. Since I arrived at Al Qarawiyyin Library, it has never crossed my mind to leave it,” said Deputy Curator Abou Bakr Jaouane.
A librarian at al-Qarawiyyin in 1931Bougchouf, curator of the Qarawiyyin library, opens the first page of an original version of Ibn Khaldun’s most famous work, Muqadimmah, dating back to the 14th century at the Al-Qarawiyyin mosque
These priceless texts also needed maintenance. Some had been damaged by the damp and the decay that ravaged the building itself. After the completion of the restoration of the building with new gutters, solar panels and air conditioning, the manuscripts finally acquired a space suitable for their maintenance. A space that, in addition to being air-conditioned with adjusted temperature and humidity settings, also has a state-of-the-art security system. The renovated library also has a new laboratory for the restoration and preservation of its historical manuscripts. For a long time, only curator Abdelfattah Bougchouf had access to the rare manuscripts that kept in a safe place.. With the help of experts from the Institute of Computational Linguistics in Italy, that changed soon. More than 4,000 manuscripts had been digitized in the new workshop. This made them widely accessible, to students and researchers all over the world. . By October 2016 about 20% of the manuscripts had been digitized. The whole process of scanning helped also to highlight any holes and areas that were not necessarily evident to the naked eye.
A manuscript under restoration.
Η παλαιότερη βιβλιοθήκη στον κόσμο που ανακαινίστηκε, και ψηφιοποιήθηκε και άνοιξε στο κοινό τον Μάιο του 2017 στη πόλη της Φέζ.
Ιδρύθηκε το 859 μ.Χ. από την Fatima al-Fihri, κόρη ενός πλούσιου εμπόρου , μορφωμένη η ίδια αφιέρωσε τη σημαντική κληρονομιά της στη δημιουργία ενός τζαμιού και σχολείου στην κοινότητά της στη πόλη της Φέζ , το γνωστό σήμερα και ως Πανεπιστήμιο Qarawiyyin , που είναι το παλαιότερο ίδρυμα που χορηγεί πτυχίο στον κόσμο. Η βιβλιοθήκη Al-Qarawiyyin λειτουργεί από τον 10ο αιώνα και πιστεύεται ότι είναι η παλαιότερη βιβλιοθήκη στον κόσμο. Μετά από χρόνια παραμέλησης, η βιβλιοθήκη ανακαινίζεται ως μέρος ενός προγράμματος για την ανανέωσης και αποκατάσταση της Μεδίνας , την πεζοδρομημένη ιστορική συνοικία της Φέζ που χτίστηκε στα τέλη του 8ου με αρχές του 9ου αιώνα. Σε φόρο τιμής στον ιδρυτή της, η υπεύθυνη για την αποκατάσταση της βιβλιοθήκης είναι μια γυναίκα, Μαροκινής καταγωγής από τον Καναδά η αρχιτέκτονας Aziza Chaouni. Μέσα στη βιβλιοθήκη υπάρχουν διακοσμημένα ξυλόγλυπτα κουφώματα και καμάρες, πολύχρωμα κεραμικά πλακάκια στα δάπεδα και η κομψή αραβική καλλιγραφία χαραγμένη στους τοίχους της. Τα ψηλά ταβάνια στην αίθουσα ανάγνωσης είναι διακοσμημένα με χρυσούς πολυελαίους. «Υπήρχε η ανάγκη μιας εκτεταμένης αποκατάστασης για να διατηρηθεί το κτίριο και τα χειρόγραφα», δήλωσε ο Abdullah al-Henda, μέλος της ομάδας αποκατάστασης που εργάστηκε από το 2012 για αυτό τον σκοπό . «Υπήρχαν προβλήματα διαρροών λυμάτων , αλλοιώσεις και ρωγμές στους τοίχους σε διαφορετικά μέρη της βιβλιοθήκης. »Η βιβλιοθήκη είναι γεμάτη με εξαιρετικά σπάνια και μερικά μοναδικά, συγγράμματα και βιβλία . Υπάρχουν περισσότερα από 4.000 χειρόγραφα , συμπεριλαμβανομένου ενός Κορανίου του 9ου αιώνα γραμμένο πάνω σε δέρμα καμήλας με ένα είδος όμορφης γραφής την Kufic καθώς και τα πρώτα γνωστά ισλαμικά Χαντίθ και ένα πρωτότυπο χειρόγραφο του Mukkadimah, μια παγκόσμια ιστορία που γράφτηκε το 1377 από τον φιλόσοφο Ibn Khaldun, το οποίο πολλοί μελετητές θεωρούν την πρώτη εξερεύνηση των τομέων που γνωρίζουμε σήμερα ως κοινωνιολογία, ιστοριογραφία, δημογραφία και άλλες κοινωνικές επιστήμες. Είναι ιδιαίτερα σημαντικό που σήμερα έχουμε ένα βιβλίο γραμμένο από το χέρι του, καθότι μετά την αποφοίτηση του από το πανεπιστήμιο Qarawiyyin ξεκίνησε την καριέρα του ως καλλιγράφος στην Καγκελαρία της Τύνιδας. Όταν μετακόμισε στη Φέζ λίγο μετά, δούλεψε γράφοντας τις βασιλικές διακηρύξεις για τον Σουλτάνο.«Όταν διαβάζετε ένα βιβλίο, ταξιδεύετε στην ιστορία. Όταν βλέπετε ένα χειρόγραφο που είναι σχεδόν δέκα ή περισσότερων αιώνων ,ταξιδεύετε στο χρόνο. Όπως είπα, η βιβλιοθήκη σας φέρνει κοντά με το ‘’πνευματικό’’ για αυτούς και για άλλους λόγους. Από τότε που έφτασα στη βιβλιοθήκη του Al Qarawiyyin, δεν πέρασε ποτέ από το μυαλό μου να την εγκαταλείψω », δήλωσε ο αναπληρωτής επιμελητής Abou Bakr Jaouane.Αυτά τα ανεκτίμητα κείμενα χρειάστηκαν επίσης συντήρηση . Μερικά είχαν υποστεί ζημιές από την υγρασία και την φθορά που ταλαιπωρούσε το ίδιο το κτίριο. Μετά την ολοκλήρωση αποκατάστασης του κτίσματος με νέες υδρορροές, ηλιακούς συλλέκτες και κλιματισμό, τα χειρόγραφα απέκτησαν τελικά ένα χώρο κατάλληλο για τη συντήρησή τους. Ένας χώρος που εκτός ότι είναι κλιματιζόμενος με προσαρμοσμένες ρυθμίσεις θερμοκρασίας και υγρασίας, έχει και ένα υπερσύγχρονο σύστημα ασφαλείας. Η ανακαινισμένη βιβλιοθήκη διαθέτει επίσης ένα νέο εργαστήριο για τη αποκατάσταση και τη συντήρηση των ιστορικών χειρογράφων της. Για αρκετό καιρό , μόνο ο επιμελητής Abdelfattah Bougchouf είχε πρόσβαση στα σπάνια χειρόγραφα που φυλασσόταν σε ασφαλή χώρο . Με τη βοήθεια ειδικών από το Ινστιτούτο Υπολογιστικής Γλωσσολογίας στην Ιταλία, αυτό άλλαξε σύντομα. Περισσότερα από 4.000 χειρόγραφα ψηφιοποιήθηκαν στο νέο εργαστήριο. Αυτό τα κατέστησε ευρέως διαθέσιμα σε σπουδαστές και ερευνητές σε όλο τον κόσμο. Μέχρι τον Οκτώβριο του 2016 περίπου το 20% αυτών των χειρόγραφων είχαν ψηφιοποιηθεί . Η δε διαδικασία σάρωσης βοήθησε να επισημανθούν επίσης τυχόν μικρές τρύπες και περιοχές που χρειάζονταν συντήρηση που δεν ήταν απαραίτητα εμφανείς με γυμνό μάτι.
