Connected - Diaries of my Identity

Connected DIARIES OF MY IDENTITY

Connected DIARIES OF MY IDENTITY

My grandfather Ahmed grows up in FĂŠs and has the opportunity to enjoy an education. He still remembers what the fields in the mountains look like although he now lives in a beautiful traditional home. He is a scholar, a judge. He is intelligent and stern. He dies when I am still young. My memories of him are few.

But people still speak of him with great respect.

6

My uncle Youssef owns a tile shop in FĂŠs, in which he produces this traditional art. Blue abstract patterns, that seem to endlessly repeat themselves. He used to be a handball player for the Moroccan Olympic team. Now he has slowed down and he sometimes struggles to stand up. He is a sweet and sensitive man, I like him very much.

12

They say that when you delve into your family history, you will always find a peasant. My great-grandfather is Saïd ― a Berber from the Rif mountains. He is a farmer. But everything changes when he marries my greatgrandmother, an Arabic girl from a rich family out of Fés.

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My grandfather’s brother is a soldier, and fights in the Algerian-Moroccan war of 1963. My grandfather and his family are afraid, but luckily he survives. They call it the Sand War. After his career in the army, he moves to the countryside near Rabat and enjoys working his land. He dies when I am still very young, but they tell me that he was a very proud man and that they could listen to his stories for hours.

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My cousin Mohammed is a soccer player for the team Raja, from Casablanca. Samir is his father, but Mohammed doesn’t see him very often.

When I am in Morocco, I rarely see Mohammed. He is always busy training. We now and then talk on Skype.

Mohammed is still only 24 but has already achieved a great deal in his life.

He says he doesn’t miss his father. I remember that we used to play soccer together on the field next to our grandparents’ home.

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My uncle Samir lives in Dakar, Senegal. There he runs a power company. He alternates between companies so he often moves. You can see he is used to people doing as he says.

He has a driver of his own. It looks as if he isn’t really interested in the lives of his siblings. I don’t see him often but I don’t mind.

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My cousin Khaoula studies engineering in Montreal. She is passionate about photography, especially of nature. When she lived in Morocco we would play together. We don’t anymore. Now I only see her every few years.

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My cousin Siham has lived in New York for ten years and married an American man last summer. The wedding was in Morocco and I was so glad I could see her again in such happy circumstances. She works hard. She has a job in a nursery and also goes to school.

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Saïda, my aunt, also lives in the United States, in Connecticut. She is a really famous singer. She mainly sings about her roots and about Morocco. I imagine there are many Moroccans living in the U.S. that go listen to her. That they think about their country. I hardy ever see my aunt because she doesn’t visit Morocco very often, and when she does, it is not when I am there.

100

My cousin Badr moves to New York but then chooses to live in Hawaii. He loves the weather and the exotic food, and likes to surf. He is athletic. He speaks gently and laughs a lot. He is like a big brother to me.

112

My uncle Abderazak wants to go to college in Sweden, and there he falls in love with an Icelandic student. He marries her and now lives in Reykjavik along with their three children. He is a pastry chef in a big hotel. He makes the most delicious desserts. I have never visited him in Iceland, but I see him now and then in Morocco.

130

I was born in Ghent. I am the daughter of a Belgian father and a Moroccan mother. I grew up with those two cultures. They are a part of who I am. Despite the great distance I have a special relationship with my Moroccan side. Sometimes, I wonder what that means. There a so many places that I don’t know, people that I hardly ever see, stories I have never heard. I am searching for my roots.

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My cousin Morad lives in Paris and works as a taxi driver. But he is also a professional kick-boxer. He has a son and spends a lot of time with him. I see Morad at least once a year, mostly in Belgium or in Paris.

156

My uncle Hamza from Toulouse is definitely a special case. He is unemployed at the moment and almost always gets fired from his jobs. Not only for being incompetent, but also because he has one accident after the other. Sometimes it really is dangerous, but he hardly ever gets hurt.

He now lives from day to day, and travels in a mobile home. He goes wherever he wants to.

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My cousin Kenza lives in Barcelona and studies to be a fashion designer. She is really good at what she does. She wants to launch a clothing line of her own.

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My cousin Nabila is a flight attendant and travels around the world.

She lives in Malaga with her Spanish husband, and left to go study in Spain a few years ago. There are many arguments going on between her family and the other relatives, because her mother suspects everyone to be against them. You can feel the discomfort when she and her family get together. It is very tiring. Therefore, the contact is minimal.

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My cousin Zineb lives in Italy with her family. She lives in a small village in the mountains, in the north. They have the most spectacular view on Lake Como. Some of my best memories are from a spring or summer at their home, enjoying the Italian life and gelato. We would spend hours on the shores of the lake. She studies law in Milan, a few hours from her village. She sometimes is rather distant.

We don’t have contact very often.

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My cousin Mehdi has been studying medicine for a few years in Kharkov, Ukraine. Beside of his challenging study he likes to write, especially French poetry. He returns to Morocco every summer and I see him there almost every year.

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My cousin Charif moves to Japan when he is 17. Now, almost 20 years later, he is married to a Japanese woman and they have a son, he is only a few months old. He has a very hard job and works long hours like a true Japanese. Apart from his work he is passionate about food and driving his motorcycle around. I see him every few years, and like him a lot.

272

My aunt Fadwa has been living in Dubai for the last 10 years along with her family. She owns a small boutique in which she designs, makes and sells clothing. She hardly ever visits Morocco, but does travel a lot to other, more luxurious destinations.

It almost seems like she looks down on her former country. She sometimes resembles a tourist when she visits Morocco. She probably thinks that this attitude will make her ‘one of them’.

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COLOPHON Connected Master Publication 2013-2014 School Of Arts Ghent Dounia Aerts | Graphic Design THANKS TO My family for all the inspiration and help Mario Debaene | mentor Simon Allemeersch | text Fien Steel | revision Jasper Rigole Frank Vande Veire the foolHOUSE | print