Marrakech will host, on November 14 and 15, the first “Invocation” of the 36th São Paulo Biennale – Not All Travelers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice.
Entitled “Breaths”, the “Invocation” focuses on the circularity as well as the precariousness of breathing, Gnawa music as a way of being, Sufi cultures and listening as a practice of coexistence, as well as on the creation of places and spaces.
The event was imagined by the conceptual team of the 36th Biennale in collaboration with LE 18 and the Dar Bellarj Foundation as part of curatorial approaches to exploring sound and music as avenues of knowledge.
The “Invocation” counts on the participation of several artists including the mâalem gnaoua Abdellah El Gourd, the actor and director Ghassan El Hakim, the literary critic and editor Kenza Sefrioui, the sound artist Leïla Bencharnia, the multi-instrumentalist and photographer Mourad Belouadi, Simnikiwe Buhlungu, artist based in Johannesburg, choreographer Taoufiq Izzediou and Fatima-Zahra Lakrissa, curator and independent researcher.
She also counts on the director of the Dar Bellarj Foundation, Maha Elmadi, and the founder of LE 18, Laïla Hida.
The first “Invocation” explores how sonic traditions (oral and aural) are established, preserved and transmitted. Ancestral practices of deep listening – from the performative rituals of the Gnawa brotherhood to the oral tradition of Halqa in North African theatrical forms – serve as a starting point for this edition.
“Invocation” will also explore how these traditions have been practiced and preserved in different settings over the years, including in publications.
The program takes place over two days, November 14 and 15, at the multidisciplinary cultural space and artistic residency LE 18, created in 2013 in the heart of the Medina of Marrakech, and at the Dar Bellarj Foundation, a cultural center dedicated to promoting in value of the architectural, artistic and cultural heritage of Morocco. Day One will focus on the spiritual practice of listening to rhythm and its resonance in the body, and Day Two will focus on breathing to reclaim space and existence, and the legacy of “Souffles” magazine. which inspired the title of this “Invocation”.
In preparation for the 36th São Paulo Biennale, a series of public programs called “Invocations” are also organized in Les Abymes, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe; Zanzibar, Tanzania; Tokyo (Japan).
Each edition reflects the exhibition concept “Humanity as Practice” from a specific local context, reconfiguring and expanding it through live events and publication. The goal of the “Invocations” is to expand the vocabulary of humanity at the points of intersection between different longitudes and latitudes.