PRESENTATIONS Gnawa
THEIR ORIGINS: The
Gnaouas or Gnawa are the descendents of former slaves from populations of origin Black Africa (Senegal, Sudan, Ghana ...) It was brought by the ancient dynasties that have passed through the history of Morocco and, more rarely, Algeria and Tunisia, starting with the Almohad empire for works and buildings of the palace and building armies. The incorporation of the Gnawa brotherhoods throughout Morocco focuses on teachers musicians (the Mâallems) instrument players (almost exclusively qraqech - sort of rattlesnakes - and Gambri), clairvoyants (chouaafa), mediums and simple followers. They practice together a syncretic rite of possession (called Lila Morocco, Diwan in Algeria) and mingling with both African and Arabo-Berber during which followers engage in the practice of the dances of possession and trance .
Their patron saint is Sidi Bilal, the first slave who was freed by the Prophet Muhammad to become the first muezzin (one who makes the call to prayer) of Islam. They later intermarried with the local population and formed a brotherhood to create a cult original blending African and Arabo-Berber.
Gnawa are said they are "African Maghreb and the sap from the graft.
Festival Essaouira Gnawa Music Festival is being held at the beginning of every summer in the Moroccan city of Essaouira. The festival showcases the great Mâalemines (Masters) playing Gnawa music of the Gnawa mystic and sacred. Some hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world are attracted to this great musical event. The festivities place throughout the city and mainly at two major gates of the medina (Place Moulay el Hassan, and Bab Marrakech), where there are two major stages. Essaouira is unrecognizable during this festival the whole city lives "in a fever Gnawa."
This festival aims to blend the cultural and musical, and offers an excellent selection of artists from around the world to mix their music with that of the Gnawa. is also an opportunity for young local artists to appear before a large public
The festival is entirely free, and only some private concerts are not free, called Lilac (nights).
The first festival was a success, it took 21 to 24 June 1998, and attracted nearly 20,000 holidaymakers. According
old and rare Gnaouas scholars, music and rituals Gnawa, derive their origins of Voodoo. These practices have had to morph to survive and adopt Islam as a religion in order to ensure continuity (and their cousins who have adopted Christianity in America).
During the colonial period, many researchers and anthropologists try to understand and classify the religious system in the Maghreb. The Gnawa are, from the late nineteenth century, identified as People with a religious brotherhood therapeutic practices are the legacy of animism SSA "imported" by generations of slaves living in Morocco.
Indeed, work on the cult of saints or the North African slave trade in Islamic countries have attempted to identify the origin of this community and its ritual practices by exploring the origin of the word "Gnawa." The explanation given by Maurice Delafosse in 1924, remained for a long time the only reference etymological and was adopted by generations of researchers. According Delafosse, the term Berber Akal-n-that iguinaouen means Black states, giving rise to the word Guinea and the word "Gnawa" by phonetic similarity. Gnawa, therefore mean black man or country from the blacks.
However, in the absence of historical evidence, only the phonetic has supported the hypothesis of sub-Saharan origin of this community and its rituals. Contemporary scholars agree that it is difficult today to identify the origin of Gnawa from their name, especially since they are not all black, Arab or Muslim. There are also Gnawa Gnawa and Berber Jews. Like other religious orders, said former Slaves, related to Gnawa of Morocco, do exist but under different names: in Algeria (Diwan), Tunisia (Stambali) in the Libyan Fezzan (Sambal) and even in Egypt (Zar).
To answer the question of the origins of the Gnawa community and its rituals, it is necessary to turn to the structure of the religious system in Morocco and to the history of the slave trade in the land of Islam. Thus, the frequency of meetings and travel between black Africa and white is not limited to trade communities servile. These exchanges in both directions could only promote relations between both Africa and prepare gradually emerging as the Gnawa brotherhoods in Morocco, Algeria or the Diwan Stambali Tunisia. As well as some similarities between ritual practices and those of Gnawa Moroccan Sufi brotherhoods prove true spiritual kinship that excludes the idea of a syncretism in which a foreign religion would simply accommodated a dominant religion. This is the formation of a complex and progressive community and religious practice over a long period, "various strata and similar contributions" [1]. It is better to speak here, to answer the question of the origins of this community and its practices, a "synthesis" rather than a form of accommodation, mixing or syncretism.
And Gnaouas returning from afar, they were underrated artistically considered as mere minstrels, or even beggars, and socially marginalized. Many Moroccans had a very vague idea of the history of this particular brotherhood. But fortunately times and attitudes change.
Today they are considered artists in their own right. They are respected, admired, invited to perform around the world. Considered as carriers of an art, a real one. More importantly, the Moroccan company realized it could learn from the true spirit of Gnawa.
Today, Moroccans have finally understood that art is a Gnaoui ancient heritage must be preserved at all costs.
http://www.festival-gnaoua.net/
0 comments:
Post a Comment