As many of you know, one of the things I’m hoping for in the new year is acceptance to graduate school. My goal is to get my MA in Art History/ Museum Studies/ Arts in Education (it depends on which specific program will have me). After 2+ years in Morocco, my area of interest is easily, naturally determined: I want to study the contemporary arts and artists of the Middle East and of North Africa.
The photography of Hassan Hajjaj.
I also hope to continue blogging post Morocco. I’ve really enjoying sharing my thoughts and adventures with the ever-enthusiastic blogosphere, and I have been toying with different ways of stretching out the life of Quinn in Morocco. So what do I propose to you, my lovely and dedicated followers?
Two years writing about life in Morocco has inevitably left a lot of things, well, unwritten. One of the most fascinating and untouched (by me, at least) corners of a society with one foot firmly in the past and the other foot dangling tentatively above the waters of the future is, of course, the country’s visual commentary.
I’ve started a new blog. El Foonoon, Arabic for “the arts”, is my novice attempt at self-education about this new (to me) realm of the contemporary art world. There’s no shortage of material from where I am at this moment. I live 20km outside of Marrakech, a cultural capital with so many art happenings a girl doesn’t know where to begin. The odd (and slightly ironic) part is how sequestered they are; in a city of so much beauty to behold, one has to work pretty damn hard to find the contemporary pulse.
But it’s there. The Marrakech Biennale is a few months away, a contemporary photography museum is in the works and already has a temporary exhibition space up in the Badia Palace, and, of course, there are artists and riads and galleries each clutching their own piece of the beat.
I’m interested in learning more. The field of Islamic art is budding, and within it, contemporary Arab and Middle Eastern art seems to be getting more attention. This blog is an attempt at self-education, a place to write freely about what I see and how I’m seeing it. I don’t claim to have any experience at art writing (not counting my research papers & test essays from my undergraduate studies– booorrriinnng). I’m just another graduate of art school who can’t kick my art habits. So– let the new girl know what you think. Email me with questions, comments, and tips: [email protected]. Thank you & شكرا
Me at the MMVPA in Marrakech.
