I feel very honoured to have been selected for a week’s residency in Fez. Time here has been a blur and flown by way too quickly and the Fez Art Residency experience has been more than I could ever have wished for.
With food, social history, language & dialect inspiring my own work I came to Fez with an open mind, not knowing where the residency would take me. Within days of arriving I felt myself slowing down and falling into the pace of life within the Medina.
Everyone and everything here works in a symbiotic rhythm starting with the beautiful voice of the Fajr (Dawn Prayer).
Best bits
The adventure of getting lost in the heart of the Medina.
Drinking Moroccan mint tea with new friends at Dar Drouj.
Sharing my embroidery with the students at L’École des Métiers d’Art Shems’y (The Shems’y School of Crafts).
Playing and experimenting with the local cactus ‘silk’ thread.
Sharing a button shopping trip with friends – we had the poor shopkeeper up and down his ladder hunting for buttons in every shape and colour of the rainbow.
What I discovered
Working with a needle and thread is a universal skill & language. I’ve found myself chatting in broken English/French/Arabic to communicate and share my appreciation for the skills of local weavers and craftsmen – and also with two local ladies at a Fasi embroidery market stall with all three of us cooing over the thread work.
Inspiration is everywhere within the Medina and every craftsman uses their local culture to decorate and embellish their handwork – from textiles and mosaics, to metal and woodworking.
What enriched the experience
Waking to the Fajr (Dawn Prayer) and watching the shadows and colours change with the sunrise and later the sunset over the Atlas mountains.
Experiencing daily life away from the busy main streets full of tourists and being completely submerged in the culture.
Within a radius of 100 meters of my front door I met several craftsmen in their workshops – hand stitching embellishments on garments, making cords and tassels with Cactus ‘silk’, and cutting and making leather purses.
Saying ‘Shukran’ as I bought my morning bread from the local baker.
I’ve found the whole experience incredibly enriching and it’s made me think differently about aspects of my work.
Watch this space.
Thank you to Peter at The Fez Art Residency for this opportunity and to my friend Lynne – fellow residency artist and fellow member of Prism Textiles – for making this a week I’ll never forget.
