Isolated populations

Supporting young people, women and girls in rural areas, Maroc
Forum 'Challenging inequalities', Unesco, December 2019

Within the framework of the Forum 'Challenging inequalities', organized by the Unesco NGs Liaison Committee, in December, at Unesco, Fatema Binet Ouakka presented a film about the work she has done and undertaken with the isolated populations of Morocco. Indeed, the artistic approach makes possible to work on:

At the end of the Forum, and following the intervention of a Japanese artist of the AIAP, creator of a method allowing the blind to create works, (Cf. article: visual disabilities on the AIAP/ IAA website), the two artists decided to apply the 'MARIS' method to isolated populations in Morocco, populations that have never been able to benefit of any education in the visual arts.Thanks to this method, their creativity can develop In order to extend to economic activities that will allow financial independence for women and girls. This method will also be tested on patients with Alzheimer's disease in order to measure its effectiveness on this type of disorders.

Watch movie: https://youtu.be/R5JFy5SuGv0

 

The children of the Middle Atlas and the Mountains Festival

This Festival enters the framework of a global vision, the goal of which being to promote and to increase the standing of the 'Mountains Arts' in order to lever it up for sustainable development. The main goal is to create opportunities of meeting and of cultural, gastronomic and artistic exchanges, allowing an audience to appreciate and to discover an aspect of the real and authentic popular Art of the Mountains. Not only the art of Morocco, but the Mountain Art all around the world.

 

 

The Build Consulting Agency believes in the future of the Mountain. So, in order to popularize its cultural, artistic and socio-economic potentialities, the Agency organized the first show of the International Art of the Mountains, 'Montagne Arts': the mountain gallery was representated by several painters of Morroco coming from the four mountain regions, and who were allowed to show their works during five days.

The main event of this exhibition obviously was the participation of the native of Middle Atlas artist Fatema Binet-Ouakka who accepted to manage and to frame the children workshops. During the time of those workshops, Fatema Binet-Ouakka, (who belongs to the French IAA National Committee), awaked the artistic potentialities of those young children. Every child could give free rein to his imagination, his creativity, his self-confidence, and the acceptance of the others’ gaze. This kind of action obviously appears like a very powerful level for the children development, and the artist was able to reveal the children huge potential during those workshops.

The children signed their works and wrote their names themselves on their participation certificates. Those few days workshops allowed them to very easily exchange ideas with the journalists who came for the opening, facing the cameras, as well as with the Ministries, the Wali of Fès, and the Governor of Sofron among others. During the discussion sessions, a number of issues were pointed out: Western society, family, violence, education, job insecurity, internet, music, etc. All those questions allowing the children to express their anxiety.

 

 

"Education is the very heart of our priorities. As a woman, and as an artist, as a mother and as a godmother" declared Fatema Binet, "through my statute, I am committed to support this human encounter. The children choose the topics by themselves with a great freedom. School learning focuses on the knowledge of the basic social life first, either playful or more controlled or regulated way. This learning is the foundation of the children personal development, of the 'living together' between the human groups, and of their inner participation to the group. Each one of those meetings looks like an energizing test resulting in quite a lot of new ideas springing up in their coded language for further exchanges. Their both bubbling imagination and emotion encouraged them to create without no fear at all when facing the 'white sheet of paper'. For me, this experiment was an incredible emotion too: I learnt a lot while seeing their so brilliant eyes, as well as their insatiable desire to learn. The discussions were led in the Tamazight language I could understand without any difficulty, being born in a neighbouring group."

 

 

The children, their parents, and the visitors were very proud of this 2014 Festival. The goal of those meetings is to bring them the means for developing their autonomy so that they can project themselves into the future they have to built.

Pictures taken with their consent.