“The neighborhood singer does not sing” .. Do major national festivals marginalize Moroccan artists?

The recent abundant musical events that have taken place in the Moroccan art scene have seen the arrival of a group of Arab artists to participate in reviving these events, where the most prominent stars of Arab song were attracted. On the other hand, some considered that there is exclusion and marginalization of Moroccan artists in concerts organized in their country.

Based on the latest edition of the Mawazine Festival: Rhythms of the World or the Timitar Festival and some of the events hosted by the city of Casablanca, Moroccan activists and those active in the artistic field expressed their denunciation of the failure to invite Moroccan stars who represent the first rank in singing and to receive Arab artists whose stardom has faded in recent years.

Many Moroccan artists also complain behind the scenes about their lack of sufficient presence at national festivals, while the latter witness a large and continuous presence of Arab artists from other countries, including Egypt, Lebanon and the Emirates. This is sometimes attributed to the decisions of the organizing committees and their choices that favor artists from abroad at the expense of local artists.

In this context, Mufid Al-Sabai, the artistic producer and expert in the world of music, said that he always insisted on the issue that Moroccan artists who deserve to pass through major festivals are not given the opportunity, and this is rare among a small group compared to artists abroad.

Al-Sabai added, in a statement to the electronic newspaper Hespress, that there are some Arab countries whose stars come to Morocco in large numbers; but in return, Moroccan artists are not given the opportunity to participate in their festivals, such as Tunisia, Egypt, and others.

The same speaker continued that he is not against the presence of Arab artists in Moroccan events; however, value must be given to Moroccan artists inside and outside the country and there must be equality and justice between them, expressing his hope that the supervisors of the festivals will reconsider the criteria for selecting guests and look for artists who work throughout the year and have a presence in artistic productions and their voices are at the level and attract them to the concerts because they make a great effort to bring a work into existence and produce it with their own money.

The artistic producer and expert in the world of music continued, saying: “Whoever is in the artistic management of festivals must be aware of what is happening in the Moroccan artistic scene and follow it well so as not to call out those who do not deserve it. Morocco is developing; therefore, the artistic field must also move forward and set an example internationally, not only with the large audience attendance but with the distinguished productions that can compete globally because we can do that.”

Al-Sabai added: “I think that the Ministry of Culture is working in this direction… and this is what we have noticed in a group of projects that have recently seen the light, and were not before Minister Bensaid took office; which means that there is a real will.”

For his part, Abdel Salam Al-Khaloufi, the Moroccan music researcher, revealed that the issue of Moroccan artists’ presence at major national festivals raises more than one question mark, because their presence has become mostly just to raise a sigh, so that these artistic events are not accused of completely excluding Moroccan artists.

Al-Khaloufi continued, in a statement to Hespress, that the last Mawazine Festival is a good example of this, as he noted that “the festival management allocated to 90 percent of Moroccan artists a stage that is completely unsuitable for musical performances, which is the Salé Beach stage; its location on the beach sand and facing the sea water makes the humidity level very high, which hinders the presentation of a flawless musical performance,” noting that “many singers, male and female, as soon as they start singing and the humidity seeps into their throats, encounter great difficulty in controlling the musical phrases, and they exert great effort to be disciplined. In many cases, these evenings were broadcast live on national channels, and anyone can return to them. I heard scandals of discord in a very clear and terrible way, and even the accompanying musical instruments fell into this trap, not because the players are not good; but only because the humidity factor greatly affects the process of tuning the strings.”

The Moroccan music researcher added that he noticed unfair treatment even among Moroccan artists themselves. Douzi, Janat and Aminox took turns on the Nahda stage, while Samira Said was allocated the Mohammed V National Theater stage, while the rest were allocated the Salé Beach stage with all its difficulties, which in his opinion also affected the conditions of interaction with these evenings for the audience, as he considered that “it was not very easy, especially since the audience stands on the beach sand and the fatigue caused by standing on the sand. Therefore, the performers of popular genres mostly agreed, which put the audience in a state of attraction that makes them forget the fatigue of standing, while the difficulty of communication between them and the audience was obvious in other genres.”

Regarding the artistic events that were recently organized in Casablanca, the same speaker said that with the exception of Hatem Ammor, there was a complete absence of Moroccan artists, stressing that “even if the organizers used the market economy as an excuse and the law of supply and demand, this is completely unacceptable; because we have many names that can attract an audience, and their artistic value exceeds even the names that were brought in, Saad Lamjarred, Asma Lamnawar, Zakaria Ghafouli, Salma Rachid, Najat Aatabou, Sanhaji and the list is long and can achieve the required audience numbers.”

Al-Khaloufi stressed that this is where the role of the artistic unions lies, as a propositional and advocacy force that can extract from various events a “quota” for the presence of the Moroccan artist as well as the form of his presence, especially for festivals that benefit from the support of the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication and other government sectors and institutions that are fully or partially owned by the state.

He added: “Unfortunately, the fragmentation of the Moroccan artistic body, as we have, God forbid, only 27 unions in the musical and singing field, has made the Moroccan artist’s voice weak. Therefore, I do not expect this situation to change in the near future.”