Art history: the Tangier uprising

Tangier has been an “in-between” city. Between theAfrica and theEuropeseparated by the Strait of Gibraltar and its 14 kilometers, between the ogre Atlantic and the delicate Mediterranean, between Muslims, Christians and Jews, between great wealth and extreme poverty. Off the coast everything that comes from or enters the Mediterranean Sea passes. Tangier is still haunted by the Spanish, Portuguese, English and French. A strategic and therefore diplomatic issue, it is here that the painter Delacroix arrived in 1832 with Count Charles de Mornay, a French political agent to Morocco. The artist dreamed of Tangier for a long time before going to Toulon.

When you arrive, the busy town will not disappoint, full of alleys sticking to the side of the mountain. Delacroix moved into a large palace that had recently become the attractive Dar Niaba museum, which now houses the work of several traveling artists. Delacroix is ​​fascinated by the density of colors of the city, the interconnected streets, the people of Tangier, famous people and artisans. He fills notebooks with pictures. Some become pictures.

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Drunk with new sensations, the painter contemplates the sun rising on the side of the house Mediterranean and he falls asleep on the Atlantic Ocean. Arriving in winter, he sees the fog that obscures the lights, weakens them, obliterates the Europe that can be seen beyond the sea also painting “exotic” women, a scene rather caricatured of the Orient. Leaving the Dar Niaba museum means visiting the painter’s paintings. The stalls, the mad rush of the people of Tangier, their laughter and misery, their banter, their appearance of resignation, their call to prayer, it was everything.

The legend of an easy town

Delacroix opened the ball for artists. In 1912, Matisse arrived in Tangier, his confidence in a bad state. The colors of the city wake him up, wake him up. In the 1950s, there were homosexual writers who were concerned in their countries, especially in UNITED STATEShead to Tangier to live freely there, satisfying their fantasies, buying their happiness. Then, William Burroughs, Truman Capote, Jack Kerouac, Tennessee Williams, Jean Genet will maintain through their stories the myth of an easy city that is not. Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent created Villa Mabrouka there, a masterpiece overlooking the sea that became a hidden and refined hotel. Next door is the actress Mireille Darc. She died right after the work was completed without being able to enjoy her gem.

Oil painting “View of Tangier” by Eugène Delacroix, 1858. (Credit: LTD/ AGLILEO COLLECTION/Aurimages via AFP)

These residences are located on the side of a cliff, in the height of the Kasbah area. It is a two-in-one museum. The Kasbah Museum is a large palace with an unexpected garden. It tells the countless stories of greed that Tangier was a prehistoric subject of the Phoenicians, Carthaginians or Romans, a series of civilizations that chase each other or respond to each other. More unexpected, a building associated with contemporary art. Recently, a wonderful exhibition was dedicated to… painters from Cuba, remembering the history of their island, the daughter of African slaves. The exhibition presented the most famous of them, Wifredo Lam, who is admired by his friend Picasso who, although he was fascinated by African art, never went there.

The other artists on display denounce the madness of the Internet, the dehumanizing virtual cyclone, the waste associated with consumer society, the hysteria of consumption drones (a painting by Frank Martínez representing a crocodile trying to catch a drone) or the rights of people to live regardless of their culture (a work by Esterio Segura with attached books). By exhibiting “insolent”, the Kasbah State Museum shows a country in question, in turmoil. There is still one caveat: attacking the king is still a lèse-majesté crime.

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Art goes into the back of incredible stalls. A small shop perfume with works by contemporary artists (NoBorder), a tiny garage with pictures on the back of a motorbike… the city cannot resist the temptation of modern art. In a gray and neglected neighborhood, three places are trying through culture to change the hot and dangerous nature of rue Khalid-Ibn-El-Oualid (formerly rue Vélasquez). Prostitution and drugs would have condemned the community to despair if a clothing store (Zawia) did not exhibit works there or if the bookstore Les Insolites had not become an essential place for erudite gourmands.

Next door, the Kiosk, another space, skillfully displays contemporary works. The place, which also has a book store, gives you the opportunity to reflect on the art scene in the city while enjoying couscous prepared by the artists, the souls of the place. The Kiosk, like other places or creators in Tangier, was the host of the Art Explora festival, which took place at the end of September in Tangier.

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Controls with variable geometry

So, before you drop anchor in La Spezia (Italy), where it is now, a large catamaran docks in Tangier with lots of seaweed. The museum ship Art Explorer is an arc of adventure that aims to bring the countries of the Mediterranean together by highlighting their cultures. The Art Explora foundation, conceived by the billionaire patron Frédéric Jousset, a good diplomat and a distinguished and ambitious businessman, organizes the amazing and chaotic odyssey of the catamaran and its group of adventures on land. Like Delacroix, he and his team dreamed of Tangier long before they got there. The long preparation was crazy.

Arrival of the museum ship in Tangier. (Credit: LTD/Salaheddine EL BOUAAICHI)

At the wharf, ship showrooms were installed well before the mallArt Exploreritself is a luxurious sight. When the catamaran arrived, hundreds of curious people, mostly women, showed their enthusiasm. An ultra-trendy video installation (sponsored by the Louvre), a photo exhibition of Mediterranean creators, 3D headphones, concerts were designed to seduce the curious, often confused people. The Art Explora festival has opened unique spaces for art. The old customs house cannot believe that there were minimal and conceptual works. I am not sure if the visitors came in despite the generous participation of the mediators.

This is the music who removed the Tangiers. As soon as the boat arrives, the group of women (Bnat Louz) sing and move to traditional tunes, accompanied by a DJ, abstract videos and electric guitars. A good mix that gets the public involved. At the end of the shows, Azzam and Malika said: “We liked it a lot but we didn’t understand anything. » Very (also) connected with the adventure ofArt Explorer ? She has only just begun. The boat has already left. After Tangier, Rabat and Malaga, before Albania, stops with variable geometry are planned until 2026, if the geopolitical context allows it.