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⭕ When the Arsat Ceased to Be a Arsat to Become a Arsat Anew
Chapter iv: For an Ethic of Gardens – من أجل أخلاق الحدائق
For an Ethic of Gardens opens with chanting, Amdah, calling the prophet. Entangled joyful voices. Hands and tables as instruments.
Mohammed Soudani tells us the story of a 90 year old man who was planting a tree despite his imminent death: « gharassou fa akalnah, gharasna fa saya’koulouh » - They planted and we ate, we will plant and they will eat -. According to Soudani, world destruction is caused by individualism, which disconnects humans from the rest of beings... Laarssa was not a shelter only for animals, plants and other creatures, but also for refugees and people who had mental problems. “Do you understand how much did Laarssa carry?”
Find a detailed transcript of the stories shared in this sound cartography here: drive.google.com/drive/folders/1O…_VX5?usp=sharing
WHEN THE ARSAT CEASED TO BE AN ARSAT TO BECOME AN ARSAT ANEW
Resulting from an extensive research developed with the community of the Dar Bellarj Foundation in the medina of Marrakech, When the arsat ceased to be an arsat to become an arsat anew is an archive of voices and reflections on the silent memories, desires, and imaginaries of the city’s gardens. Riads, arsats, jnanes and agdals are different types of green spaces that used to nourish the terrains of Marrakech, both communal and edible gardens which have increasingly disappeared due to urban transformation and real estate developments.
Taking different shapes according to the territory and space hosting it, When the arsat ceased to be an arsat to become an arsat anew is here presented as a sound installation that while making hearable inhabitants’ voices and memories, also means to offer an understanding of the process of collective gathering and research undertaken by QANAT.
When the arsat ceased to be an arsat to become an arsat anew has been developed by Abdellah M. Hassak, Noureddine Ezarraf and Francesca Masoero with the Mamans Douées of Dar Bellarj as part of the Entangled Ecologies research line of QANAT and in the framework of the Ateliers Collectifs of Dar Bellarj.
With the participation and voices of Fatima Ennaoui, Zahra El Khiraoui, Khadija Karbah, Rachida el Idrissi Lahbali, Rachida Elguendouf, Amina Bouyabrine, Souhail Tazi, Maha el Madi, and Aba Sadki.
Recordings, editing and realisation by Abdellah M. Hassak, in dialogue with Noureddine Ezarraf and Francesca Masoero. Sound mix by Abdellah M. Hassak. Translations by Mouna Guidiri.