A native of Vénissieux in the suburbs of Lyon, Hadnnan Hakoun returns to his native region, in these months of December 2022 and January 2023, for three photographic exhibitions where he shows different faces of Morocco. As part of the Les Nuits d’Orient Festival in Dijon, “Kingdom of the Maghreb”, at the Moroccan Consulate in Strasbourg, “Colours and Seasons” at the Latitude21 cultural center in Dijon, then the collective entitled “Orientalism and its multiple facets ” at the Municipal Library of the city are the three events that offer an immersion in the wonderfully colorful world of the photographer.
Hadnnan Hakoun, in fact, is inspired by all the lights and atmospheres in which he lets himself be immersed, thus creating a fabulous universe of colors in harmony, which his photos show. After living between Morocco and France, where he obtained an engineering degree in information science and library science, he returns to his home country again, where he follows a training course at the Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS) in Rabat . He became a French teacher in high school, worked in the capital, then in Ouarzazate, until the mid-2000s. In 2009 he returned to Chefchaouen, his hometown, where he was greatly inspired to reconnect with photography.
3 bands / Ph. Hadnan Hakoun
In Dijon, he is currently in photographic residence in collaboration with the town hall of Chenôve. For him “photography is a question of sharing”. “Every time I travel, I try to share what I see, what I hear, how I feel through photos,” he said. “Every time I go on a trip, I go for a walk, with a theme in mind, depending on the feeling of the moment,” he adds.
Photography, a story and a family heritage
In the city of Dijon, the photographer thus brought photos of Morocco, in particular of Chefchaouen, to share parts of the daily life of this small historic city. “Morocco is my country. These are the colors, all these emotions, these sensations, this warmth that I bring back here in the cold of the Bourguignon region,” he said.
For Hadnnane Hakoun, photography is a long family story. It all started with her father, who is already a photographer. “He passed on to us all this passion for the image, the composition, the colors, since he is also a painter … Then, we rediscovered photography in a different way”, he recalls.
“We’ve been learning everything technical since we were kids, whether it was me, my brother or my sister. We then dedicated ourselves to our studies, each having embarked on the trajectory of a different professional career. After thirty years, we have rediscovered the passion for photography”.
Hadnnan Hakoun, photographer
Wear the colors of Morocco across its diaspora
Today, Hadnnan Hakoun believes that the Moroccan community abroad is “the first ambassador” of the culture of the country of origin, of which it is also “the first standard-bearer”, be it “in France, Belgium, Canada or elsewhere”. . “Where we’re going, Moroccans all over the world are known for honoring their citizens and the motherland,” she says.
As part of his current artist residency, the photographer is working more closely with the Moroccan community of Chenôve. “I met an artist, Mounir, who guided me here,” he says. His current exhibitions at the Moroccan consulate in Strasbourg and at Latitude21 are scheduled until Jan. 6, 2023, as part of the Les Nuits d’Orient festival, but could extend beyond the festival meeting, to last through February, he said .
Phil Rose / Ph. Hadnan Hakoun
Autant dire que l’ensemble de ces expositions sont des calls à come découvrir de petites parts du Maroc, avec l’espoir d’y donner goût, surtout pour ceux qui n’en savent pas beaucoup sur le pays ou n’y ont jamais summer. “All these Moroccans who remain attached to their roots and origins, doing everything to promote the country’s image, make it live abroad through them. The image people have of Morocco outside the country is the image that Moroccans abroad have of the country,” said Hadnan Hakoun.
