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Gnawa Festival, Morocco
Gnawa Festival between June 26 and 29, Essaouira, Morocco
"The Gnawa of Morocco, whose origins are bound up with the poignant story of black African slavery of the distant past, is one such musical experience. The story of this slavery goes back, way back — perhaps to the 10th century or even before — it antedates the better known slave trade to the Americas.
"The saga of this slavery involved the capture and forced transportation of black African peoples from sub-Saharan and West African Regions to serve at the will and pleasure of the Sultans and Pashas of Maghreb or present day North Africa. To either become servants or to become Guards or at times just to labour in the villas and palaces of their captors. During the time of the Berber rulers of the Almoravid and Almohad dynasties in Moorish Spain, Black African Regiments took part in victorious battles displaying great bravery and valour. They played a pivotal role in the rout of Alfonso VI of Castile in 1086.
"And just as the destinies of the captors and captives coalesced to charter a new course into history, the uprooted people caught between the tensions of trying to preserve their ancestral memory and coming to terms with their imposed surroundings while reinventing a new identity, created this unique music. Thus it combines African animism and Sufi Islamic elements to produce this singular blend of rhythm and swing. The Gnawa music is considered to be spiritual. Its practitioners believe that it can heal, soothe and keep the evils spirits away.
"The displaced Black Africans were from regions that are modern day Senegal, Niger, Chad and Mali — although they integrated into the Islamic cultural and religious mosaic of North Africa and Andalusian Spain; they retained their spiritual distinctiveness by keeping alive their own mystical traditions enshrined in the Gnawa. [...]"
Source: The Hindu (India), June 22, 2008
Posted at: 2008-06-26
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