Marginalization and repetition of faces.. Moroccan artists criticize “exclusion from summer festivals”

The Moroccan art scene has recently witnessed a wave of discontent and denunciation from a number of Moroccan artists who have revolted against what they described as their repeated exclusion from summer festivals hosted by a number of cities in the Kingdom, in this season that is witnessing intensive artistic activities.

These artists expressed their dissatisfaction with the clear preference for some artistic names at the expense of others, which creates a kind of monopoly over national demonstrations and reinforces the repetition of the same faces on the platforms of various festivals, while some singers wait for the phone to ring to be called to enliven one of the evenings and combat the unemployment they are experiencing.

In this regard, artist Shaima Abdel Aziz, in a live broadcast via her personal account on one of the social networking sites, denounced the exclusion and marginalization that she is subjected to by the organizers of summer evenings and festivals.

The graduate of “The Voice”, who described what she is being subjected to as “oppression”, appealed to Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, to intervene to find a solution for the artists who complain about being excluded from artistic events and the criteria for choosing the faces that enliven the evenings supported by the ministry in charge of the culture sector.

The Moroccan artist herself said that she is not angry, but she appeals to the minister as a father responsible for his children to alleviate the suffering experienced by most male and female artists in Morocco.

In turn, rap artist Taha Fahsi, known artistically as Grande Toto, who was ranked the most listened to rapper in the Middle East and North Africa, expressed his anger at the organizers of national festivals, due to his exclusion this summer from singing in the events organized in a number of cities, despite the great success achieved by his private concerts that he held inside and outside Morocco, which exceeded 30 evenings that he presented entirely with closed windows.

“Toto” said, via his official page on the social networking site “Facebook”, “He is the number one artist in Morocco; however, he is unfortunately not present at the festivals of his country,” indicating that he does not know the main reason behind this; but he will continue to present his own concerts.

In this context, Moroccan producer and expert Mufid Al-Sabai said that the exclusion of artists has been a problem for years and is not new; however, the real problem is that artists were keeping silent and not uniting among themselves for fear of not being called for any evening and being blacklisted.

Al-Sabai continued, in a statement to Hespress, that there are hidden wars between artists; you find one plotting against the other, and some of them reach the point of communicating with concert contractors in order to withdraw some names and impose others, and many hidden matters that happen behind the scenes.

The same speaker pointed out that some of the names that have recently appeared in artistic events do not deserve to go up on the stage because they only present performances using the “playback” technique and do not present a show that is appropriate for the Moroccan audience, or present their own songs.

The Moroccan producer stressed that those responsible for placing artists in festivals must be reconsidered and known to everyone so that they can have direct contact with them, and not through intermediaries so that the right is given to their owners; because Morocco has voices that deserve local support.

The same spokesperson explained, at the end of his statement to Hespress, that the Ministry of Culture does not support all festivals, and does not have control over all of them; rather, it supports a group of events that exist on the official website so that they are not confused, adding that artists must also adhere to the values ​​of cooperation among themselves and stay away from the hatred that they do not show publicly but appears in secret so that things pass peacefully and everyone works.

For his part, a Moroccan producer in charge of managing the business of a group of artists, who refused to be named for professional reasons, said that some concert contractors in Morocco work on a “click” system, where they share the festival platforms among themselves with some of the faces they work with throughout the year in a group of other works; which affects the absence of some names and the repetition of others who share a share of the cake with them.

The producer continued, in a statement to Hespress, that there are some artists who are not called upon because their artistic credit is absent and they only have one or two works; therefore, some names are imposed that have a rich and diverse artistic repertoire and achieve great successes and a prominent presence capable of attracting large audiences.

The same speaker stressed that some artists who complain of being excluded and marginalized do not work on themselves and do not present works at a level that imposes itself and satisfies the Moroccan public.