INSTALLATION
NEW MEDIA
An American Artist invited by the Royal Family
Cultural cross-fertilization on diplomatic background
Sonia Raymond
Within the context of the current global political climate, riddled with conflicts, violence and tension, emerges political and symbolic initiatives from counties opening themselves to one another. They wave cultural arms based on values of exchange rather than arms of mass destruction. Their strength comes from dialogue, negotiation and sharing.
Morocco opens-up to the modern world
Morocco is part of this movement and, within the framework of its free trade agreement with the United-States, invited an American delegation to partake in a very special event in December of 2006. One hundred or so dignitaries and one artist, Cerj Lalonde, were invited by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, son of Hassan II, to share a slice of rich Moroccan culture. The event is named Moussem and is deeply rooted in north-west African nomad traditions of the southern Moroccan and Bedouin peoples. In the past, wells were chosen as gathering points for the weeklong annual assembly. Today, Moussems of different sizes happen all year round in Morocco. The one the American dignitaries and Cerj Lalonde were invited to was held at Tan-Tan.
The Moussem of Tan-Tan*
The Moussem of Tan-Tan has been named by Unesco as one of the “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritages of Humanity”. The event is a fair of sorts, but more importantly, it is a gathering of multicultural minority tribes whose traditional nomadic ways are threatened by the settling effects of the comforts introduced by ever expanding industrialisation. A festive ambiance characterises this event where participants share and exchange local traditions, music, poems, thoughts, one’s artistic know-how and most accomplished artefacts. It is in a very intimate ambiance that King Mohammed meets one by one, the creators of the artworks.
It is a real honour to be invited to such a celebration of Moroccan cultural heritage. It would seem that through his participation, King Mohammed is setting forth his will to preserve the plurality of regional ancestral traditions, whether they are material or immaterial. His presence is seen by both his people and his guests, as an enrichment of the value of this heritage. Beyond the privilege to participate in this major event, the American dignitaries are offered the sense and feel of the deep rooted oral traditions of these civilisations. In a world of growing global xenophobia and radicalisation, this is viewed as the Muslim world reaching out to the West. More than just an “Invitation the Voyage”**, this diplomatic move outlines Moroccan determination to set forth its culture as well as to expose its openness to the West.
Choosing the Artist
If the stated objective of Americano-Moroccan economic cooperation is coherent with its choice of invited American dignitaries, then the choice of the artist accompanying them has not been left to chance.
Cerj Lalonde, originally from Montreal, Quebec-Canada and now living in Miami, USA, was the only non-Moroccan invited by His Royal Highness to present ten of his paintings. Fusing a textured abstract style of deep shades of colours, with a very structured composition of geometric perspectives, his art interjected itself as the contemporary Western archetype in an ancestral artistic setting of Moroccan tradition.
In fact, Lalonde is working on a multimedia project named Fractal Utopia, set on a timeline that counts down events starting from the Big Bang and accelerates visitors forward to an hypothetical future, promoting, amongst other things, values of reconciliation, exchange and thoughtfulness. He confronts the mystical to the rational and embraces an ambitious elaboration of a “Universal Representation”. He fuses pictorial, unidirectional, bidirectional interpersonal, intimate, oral and written communication forms. Sitting in an atmosphere of mystery, this installation, or Fractal Utopia***, proposes a kaleidoscope of perspectives favouring tolerance, exchange, peace and liberty.
It would seem that the purpose of this utopian process is to bond historic, scientific, economic and cultural fragments into something meaningful and capable of contributing to a better world. Nerval declared that having dreams made it possible « for man to communicate with the world of spirits ». As for Cerj Lalonde’s « Dream of Global Understanding », it aspires to reach our spirits in order to make it possible for man to dream of a better future.
Enriched by his previous visits to Morocco as well as by his having read the sacred texts of the great cultures of humanity such as the Koran and the Bible, Lalonde’s artworks aims at promoting values of exchange and respect. His work therefore epitomizes the intercultural foundation at the core of the collaboration between Morocco and the west.
The positioning of Morocco
The immersion in this cultural context of exchange offered to the American delegation reinforces Morocco’s identity as a welcoming and open minded country, culturally rich and anxious to build links to share and trade. Such an event shows the importance His royal Majesty the King Mohammed VI gives to the rich Moroccan culture. He seems to offer to his economic partners a demonstration of his attachment and desire to publicly highlight the oral tradition and exceptional long-established local craftsmanship as a genuine multifaceted asset.
The cultural contrast between ancestral Moroccan tradition and the modernity of Lalonde’s artworks appears as an implicit message from fully growing Morocco wishful to be part and parcel of modernity while preserving its exceptional cultural heritage.
The crossing between past and present, as well as the values of reconciliation and the invitation to reflect and exchange tinting Lalonde’s creations, also seem to reverberate with the values brandished by the kingdom.
Maintaining tradition while developing the national Moroccan economy following market laws remains however a sturdy challenge indeed. Nevertheless, the monarch’s interest in and preparation for a larger international collaboration is not new. The brilliant international and practical studies he undertook, prior to being king, led him to extensively cover the subject of cooperation between peoples and of the strategies of his kingdom in terms of international relations, preparation which might very well lead him to succeed in his enterprise. To add up to the genuine interest manifested by Morocco to enhance its development, the Moussem of Tan-Tan offers another facet of the royal respect for the cultural heritage of his country consequently granting it an asset value, which makes the agreements Morocco - USA bound to reinforce and propel Morocco’s importance on the world’s economic social and cultural stage. This type of collaboration is an illustration of the possibility to use dialogue and sharing as a resort. His royal Majesty Mohammed VI is imposing himself as a modern and peaceful monarch whose judgement, open-mindedness and wisdom will probably contribute to propel Morocco to the world rank it longs for.
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***The Fractal Utopia project presents itself as a voyage trough nine rooms leading into each other. Each one would offer a different and unique ambiance displayed through a variation or hybrid, fictional and/or factual type of setting. Each room would be a fraction of world inhabited by sounds, lights, surprising elements, universal information, archaic traces and high-tech material. The variety of elements presented throughout the project enables one to imagine relations that can be tied onto a common thread supporting and unifying the consecutive rooms. In order to lead each participant towards a personal reflection upon the universal facets of Creation, upon the large palette of perspective on our world and upon the subjective perception we allots to ourselves or to others, Lalonde weaves his own Ariane’s thread through his installation. By stimulating one’s reflection and challenging one’s viewpoint, he hopes for this project to lead to the emergence of new ideas, or useful strategies that could contribute to “Save the World” from the predicaments it is facing.
For more information :
*Unesco : text on the Moussem of Tan Tan
http://www.unesco.org/culture/intangible-heritage/26arb_uk.htm
**« Invitation to the Voyage » title of one of Charles Beaudlaire’s poem.
***Fractal Utopia: see FRACTAL UTOPIA
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