From a performance to a ritual
This performance was made during a residency program in Morocco
(culture vultues art residency), upstream Moussem Sidi Ali Ben Hamdouch - Every year on the anniversary of the prophet Mohammed’s birth, (‘Eid al-Mawlid) many Moroccans take part in pilgrimages to sacred places, saintly tombs, shrines and grottos, and places frequented by ‘junuun,’ those mystical beings from the Qur’an who hold a special place in Moroccan folklore and popular culture.
Thousands of pilgrims descend upon Sidi Ali to commemorate Sidi Ali Ben Hamdouch and to delve into the world of the supernatural, the trance, the aura of the junuun, to experience the ritual bath at the spring of Aïsha Ben Hamdoucha and incantations that bring spirits and humans together in remembrance of God.
During the rituals and ceremonies that are part of the pilgrimage (Mouseem) in North Morocco.. Popular Sufism is practiced over the 8 day spiritual event that commemorates the birth of the Muslim Prophet, Mohammed.
In this project I aim to transform a performance that I made in Morocco during a spiritual event, into a ritual, which I already start to do it by asking artist to reproduce the performance that I did and give me their feedback. Waiting for Godot to bless me (performance name) is a response of what I have lived and I have seen during a “moussem “which is an annual ritual that gather people around “spiritual practice”, a response as an inner practice which have the belief as a common points, wondering about the beginning of a ritual, when and how these rituals has been invented, in which context or circumstances, I decided to stop asking these “silly” questions and start to create my own ritual in 2014, I created a performance which was inspired by this spiritual ritual, I focused in the main aspects of the ritual which are: -Sacrifice -Offerings –Trance.
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