Loading ...A Female Fantasia in Morocco
The French Romantic painter Eugène Delacroix traveled to North Africa, shortly after his country conquered Algeria in 1830, to experience what he viewed as a more primitive society. He made more than 100 paintings based on an Orientalist view of exotic people wearing colorful costumes, including a series featuring men on horseback firing rifles during what he referred to as military exercises, or Fantasia.
More than 180 years later, Zara Samiry encountered a similar scene in Morocco, with a dozen figures in traditional clothing holding rifles high as they straddled beautifully outfitted horses. As they galloped off in unison toward a group of tents, Ms. Samiry started to photograph. In many ways, the riders approaching in a straight line looked like the exotic figures in the Delacroix paintings.
But there was one significant difference: The riders were women.
Shaimaie, 19, is a member of the all-female troupe Farisat Al Hawziya.Credit Zara Samiry
The Fantasia is a centuries-old cultural performance that combines history and storytelling and celebrates the North African tradition of a close relationship with masculinity, horses and warfare. It is performed at weddings and holiday celebrations throughout Morocco and is an ever-present reminder of the country’s Berber cultural heritage.Or as Ms. Samiry put it: “Think of a combination of a rodeo and a carnival.”
Ms. Samiry never gave the Fantasia much thought while growing up in Casablanca. But once she found out that a few troupes of women had begun performing this traditionally male equestrian display, she knew she had to document them.
“I was hooked by the story because it is a very masculine tradition and Morocco is a patriarchal society,” she said. “But those women are in love with Fantasia, in love with the horses and are pushing the boundaries. I was amazed by their strength and their passion.”
Most of the young women who participate in the all-female performances are following in the footsteps of their fathers and grandfathers who participated in Fantasia. Many of the women are still in high school and are financing their troupes by themselves.
The horse used for the Fantasia is a Barbe or Arab-Barbe horse. The Arab-Barbe horse, a cross between an Arabian and a Berber horse, has traditionally been used in wars.Credit Zara Samiry
Ms. Samiry undertook the project with a grant from the Arab Documentary Photography Program, which is organized by the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, along with the Magnum Foundation and the Prince Claus Fund. Her project mentor was the photographer Tanya Habjouqa.Ms. Samiry, 32, studied multimedia and advertising in college in Morocco and then moved to Paris to study art for two years. While there, she encountered a Fantasia painting by Delacroix in the Louvre. She returned to Morocco in 2010 because, she said, there were many stories in her country that were not being told.
“Though Morocco is a country of storytellers and great tales, all too often it is outsiders coming in and telling the same stale visual stories,” she said. “Most of the time the Arab woman is seen as a victim, but in this story she is a warrior, an Amazon taking the lead.”
Source: lens.blogs.nytimes.com