Jemaa el-Fna, Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity (UNESCO)

This photographic (an)archive seems to beg the question: In what space and time is this taking place? Could it be a Rembrandt? A Delacroix? Or a photograph, maybe?

While the bird’s eye view prompts questioning of the form, to the sharp eye, this “arrêt sur image” reveals objects and actions conjugated in transitional present tense, superimposing past and current practices, while locals, nomads and tourists transit.

Time is suspended in a multi-layered story of an immaterial quality. The place is “Jemaa el-Fna,” declared Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

I draw from in-between places where multiple realities emerge and overlay one another.

This research project was showcased by the American Anthropological Association(2012), in the Process category, “as an example of anthropology at its finest”. This specific image also appeared on the cover of The Senses & Society, Volume 07, Issue 01, March 2012.