Exhibition Review: Morocco Crossroads and Meeting Grounds

In the five months of its opening, the exhibition of Morocco Crossroads and Meeting Grounds, located in the Don B. Huntley Gallery, has come to its end. We had the opportunity of visiting the exhibition in the month of September before its closing to intake all that it had to offer. The exhibition was realized by a group of Cal Poly Pomona faculty, in which they travelled to Morocco under the leadership of Faiza Sheeren and Mahmood Ibrahim, and then coordinated by Michele Cairella-Fillmore, Hillary Haakenson and Michelle Napoli-Coley.

In entering the library, one hears the Moroccan traditional music which surrounded the room, transporting the attendees to another dimension that contrasted the silent ambience of the library. Those songs transform the terrain of the exhibition, mesmerizing the audience. This adds to the feeling of a liminal space captured by the photography showcasing the architecture, the people, and the goods of the public markets. Through the artefacts and the art, one notes of the intensity of the saturated colors found in the Moroccan culture. In the corner of the room, spices can be found from the open markets that the group acquired. Their fragrance is strong which evokes stimulation of the olfactory sense, which adds a third dimension to the exhibit. Traditional Attire and patterned carpets with Berber designs can be found in the center of the gallery, forcing the viewer to circulate it to appreciate all the good. Artefacts and jewelry also are included, in which their luminesce under the lights showcase the meticulous labor put in by their crafters. On the back wall, Ipods allow for the audience to participate by interacting through sliding the moments captured by the photographers.

The members of the group have infused social and political dialogues, asking the audience to compare and contrast our own American culture. One of those dialogues is the role of women. Unfortunately, through media and political tension, in America some get the impression the women under Islamic nations must be oppressed and submissive to men. However, this exhibition asks the audience to not generalize. In the case of Morocco, which happens to be a Islamic nation, women do have different roles not confined to the domestic. The exhibit highlights them primarily through its photography, showcased by the women cinematographer, the ladies enjoying a pop concert, and through the women who export Couscous to the [pb] through feminine cooperation. The photographer, Fatima Sadiqi, a reputable Moroccan linguistic professor and feminist famed internationally through her books, which are also published in various languages, does a profound job of highlighting this dialogue. Through the photography, along with the wall text, the exhibition makes the spectator to reflect over both America’s and Morocco’s perspective on women.  In Morocco paid maternity leave and equal job pay exist in the society, yet America struggles to implement either. Therefore, one must not approach the other’s perspective condescendingly, but recognize that both nations have room for improvement in women’s right and freedom.

Another dialogue that is portrayed is that of contrast of the modern with the traditional. In the videos many contemporary items such as Iphones, Starbucks, modern shoes, etc. can be seen. Perhaps as Americans we are shaped to think that those items are limited to the Western world, but the case is that all nations of today participate in the global world. The Moroccan people have composed a syncretism of contemporary global features within their cultural traditions. It can be see through the architecture with designs of Imperial Rome, Almoravides and Almohades between modern infrastructure, the modern fashion style matched with traditional attire; traditional dresses contrasting the national soccer team’s jersey, and most evidently through the cable satellites on top of the houses.

In the end the members of Fulbright GPA whom participated in the creation of the exhibit have composed of an informative space which invites the attendees to participate; be it through observing the art and goods or reading the informative panels of the Moroccan culture. Even though the exhibition has finished, we hope that the Don B. Huntley Galley continues to transform their space in the same manner that the exhibition of Morocco: Crossroads and Meeting Grounds did.