Grandfather & Grandson
A view from a village in the Moroccan mountains… a picture that shows a lot about life in some of Moroccan villages. We see an old man ‘sheikh’ with his grandson lying on the surface of their own house, that house that was built using clay. The sheikh is writing something on a small paper ‘which shows that not all the old people in Moroccan villages are illiterate, since they have learned writing and reading in the mosque’ when the child is playing with his grandfather’s rosaries, a strong Islamic symbol in the period of afterlife.
The grandfather and his grandson are wearing a jilbab which is a common dress in these areas. This jilbab is from fell of their own sheep..It’s manually fabricated by the talented women of the village. There are many types of jilbab or jlaba… that one in the picture is for winter days thanks to its thickness…it covers all the body… the head is covered by a bonnet, which is used also to carry things, we can see also a turban that is bound around the head, this turban is a symbol of veneration and wisdom, it‘s worn by old men who also shave their heads.
Beside them some walnut, this fruit and others like almond and carob are the only source of money in some villages, which they sell in the weekly souk to buy some of other things, like sugar and green tea…
Since this picture is old we can find a radio on the picture, which was the only way to get the news of morocco and the rest of the world…and because of lack of electricity it works with batteries that are cast away after they are over, and collected by children who turn them into some kind of games. The radio is very old and one day these kinds of radios are much known in Morocco.
Close to the radio there is a money pouch which is called in Tamazight ‘akrab’
That has also a symbol of economical independency and to generosity.
In general this scene represents the transferring of the cultural forms between generations, and maybe this landscape means the bright future that is watching for the child.
Hicham Ibaakiline
