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from Rabat to Tunis

http://from-rabat-to-tunis.com/
"From Rabat to Tunis" is a blog dedicated to everything related to Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. This blog, however, is not oriented to politics or daily news from the region, but more to cultural things.

Articles du blog

Just to remind you that it’s still here! + some great Tunisian music

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A short post to – again – announce that FRTT blog is not dead yet :) It’s just waiting for better times, that is, better and quieter for the author of this blog. Hopefully they’re going to come soon and I’ll start posting again in a week or two. A lot of great material and ideas have been collected during these months, waiting to be sorted out and shared. Ranging from a series of posts about Moroccan Jews to third and fourth parts of “Soussi music” and

06 novembre 2010 à 05:24:00 Blog : from Rabat to Tunis

Houria Aïchi: voice from the Aurès

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The only time I mentioned chawi music in this blog was six months ago, and then it was merely putting one video of a singer called Massinissa. Now I’m going to write a longer post, dedicated to this interesting and almost unknown tradition. Chawi music (and culture in general) is not as popular as Kabyle, but it doesn’t mean that it’s less worth attention. Quite on the contrary. Everything what’s hidden is more intriguing. It’s not so easy to find quality chawi

28 juillet 2010 à 11:58:00 Blog : from Rabat to Tunis

Henna traditions in the Maghreb

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When we see female hands, decorated with intricate henna patterns, we most likely think of India first of all. Henna is indeed an integral part of Indian culture, however, similar traditions exist in a much wider geographical area and Maghreb countries are not an exception. Henna is derived from Lawsonia inermis, a plant which grows to be 4 to 8 feet high in hot climates and can be found from Morocco to Bangladesh. The leaves, flowers and the twigs of the plant

26 juillet 2010 à 21:11:00 Blog : from Rabat to Tunis

Melodies like the road over Tizi-n-Test… Music of southern Morocco (part II)

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Continuing my “tribute to Souss”, this is the second post from the “music of southern Morocco” series. The first one can be found: here. In my previous post, I already presented ahwach and rways – the two main genres of traditional Amazigh music in southern Morocco. The third genre after ahwach and rways is taznzart, popularized by the legendary band Izenzaren. It is actually based on traditional Amazigh music as well, only slightly modernized (eg. using a bit mo

25 juillet 2010 à 10:50:00 Blog : from Rabat to Tunis

Melodies like the road over Tizi-n-Test… Music of southern Morocco (part I)

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This post could be called a “tribute” to Souss – my favourite (if that’s the right word) region in Morocco. Its name was already mentioned in this blog certainly more than once and I believe, will be mentioned many more times in the future. Souss has a predominantly Amazigh population and is well known for its striking nature as well as a rich cultural heritage. Traditional arts and folklore are still very much alive in Souss, and Soussi Amazigh music is probably the most

23 juillet 2010 à 20:17:00 Blog : from Rabat to Tunis

Kamel El Harrachi – Algerian chaâbi at its best!

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Algerian chaâbi is often thought to be a thing of the past. By mentioning its name, one in the first place remembers the old masters, like Dahmane El Harrachi or Cheikh El Hasnaoui, and their nostalgic songs from a dusty gramophone. However, not all contemporary Algerian musicians forgot the traditional way, even if they are not so well-known. Kamel El Harrachi was one of my biggest discoveries in Algerian music this year, as his work is – shortly speaking – Algerian chaâbi at its be

22 juillet 2010 à 11:07:00 Blog : from Rabat to Tunis

The French-Algerian phenomenon (part II)

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This post will – again – deal with music, more exactly, it will continue the “French-Algerian phenomenon” series, started in January. I will start with a band that I actually wanted to present long ago and was even thinking to dedicate a separate post to them. The band is named Zebda, which means “butter” in Arabic. You may think it’s a rather funny choice for a band name, however, there’s a more complex meaning behind it. The French word for butte

01 juin 2010 à 09:59:00 Blog : from Rabat to Tunis

Echoes from the Atlas: Mohamed Rouicha

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Even though some travel agencies organize trips to Amazigh villages as a “tourist attraction”, the Atlas mountains still remain one of the most isolated parts of Morocco. An interesting article about life in the Atlas mountains can be found: here. Atlas Amazigh music is also less known than, let’s say, Soussi, let alone Kabyle. However, there are several prominent musicians who do a great job keeping the tradition alive, and one of these musicians is Mohamed Rouicha (his

26 mai 2010 à 15:56:00 Blog : from Rabat to Tunis

Hiya m’chate… and FRTT is back!

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It reminds me of that hot sun above. Of that endless ocean and those hundreds of honest smiles all around. Reminds me of fresh mint, that poisonously sweet taste in my mouth, and of those light airy steps, trying to dance in a caftan. Of those muggy evenings and never ending walks, of that carelessness and freedom, not digging too deeply, but always finding joy in simple things. Yes, FRTT is back, sooner than expected, and back with some very positive energy – some very positive Maghrebi m

26 mai 2010 à 08:51:00 Blog : from Rabat to Tunis

An important note. And a brilliant song

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After a relatively long break I come back to remind you that “From Rabat to Tunis” is still alive and not going to “die” like many other blogs still in their infancy. Ideas are being generated, thoughts are being collected, work is being done… This is the good new. The bad new, however, is that due to some unexpected reasons, there will be no new posts for at least one more month or probably several months. Anyhow, life goes on. Enjoy it. And of course, a piece of g

27 avril 2010 à 15:36:00 Blog : from Rabat to Tunis

This spring/summer in Morocco

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If you happen to be in Morocco this spring/summer, why not try visiting some Moroccan festivals? Festival of Sufi Culture will take place in Fes between 17th and 24th April. This year it will have the theme “Mystery and Poetry”  and the whole event will include various discussions and presentations in addition to Sufi music concerts. Check out the festival website for more information: here. Another spirituality-related festival will also be held in Fes a bit later. That’s the

05 mars 2010 à 23:31:00 Blog : from Rabat to Tunis

Nabyla Maan - a flower yet to bloom

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In Western countries, teenage singers are not surprising anymore, and underage female popstars have already become "a norm". Seeing a young (really young, I mean!) female singer in North Africa or the Middle East is, however, rather unusual. The new Moroccan generation breaks these stereotypes and singer-songwriter Nabyla Maan is probably the finest example.Nabyla hails from Fes, a city that is sometimes called "the spiritual center of Morocco". Her debut album ("D'nya") was released when the

26 février 2010 à 13:20:00 Blog : from Rabat to Tunis

A very random post (with several lovely links though)

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Should I say "I am back"? In fact, there were some problems with publishing the last 4 posts (not going into details), but luckily, everything is in order now. In this post I'll be short and only share several links.While trying to find out something more about bread traditions in the region, I found some interesting pages about Amazigh daily life in general.Firstly, an old book on life in the Moroccan Amazigh areas: here.About the Algerian Amazigh people: here.More books: here.Then, a series of

23 février 2010 à 16:32:00 Blog : from Rabat to Tunis

Traditional bread making

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About a month ago I saw an interesting program on TV Tamazight (Algérie 4) which talked about bread in Algeria. The loveliest part of it was a reportage from some village. It showed the entire preparation of bread: from making the flour (yes, with a hand quern!) to baking the bread in a clay oven. I did then a little "research" on this subject, however, without much success. There are some articles mentioning the traditional preparation of bread in rural areas of Morocco or Algeria, but none of

19 février 2010 à 15:36:00 Blog : from Rabat to Tunis

Moroccan alpine skier in the Olympics

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Even if you're not a big sport enthusiast, it's almost impossible that you haven't heard a word about the Winter Olympics, taking place in Vancouver (Canada) this month. Well, unless you live in a deserted island where no communications are available. I don't really fancy watching sports myself,however a combination of "Winter Olympics" and "Morocco" seems rather fun :) By saying this I'm refering to Samir Azzimani, the only athlete representing Morocco in Canada this year. Winter Olympics with

15 février 2010 à 15:35:00 Blog : from Rabat to Tunis