Photo of the Month: Modern Aladdin: Jemaa el-Fnaa, Marrakesh, Morocco
12 Saturday Aug 2017
Tags
Aladdin, carbon footprint, Jemaa el-Fnaa, lamps, market, Marrakech, Marrakesh, Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, Morocco, old and new, UNESCO
This seller of lamps in the famous Jemaa el-Fnaa night market, in Marrakesh, Morocco, bridges old and new – the traditions of t
he North African/Middle Eastern seller of lamps, that go all the way back to Aladdin and beyond, and the modern electric light.
No tallow, oil or wick here. No genies either. And probably a carbon footprint of embarrassingly high proportions.
But I just love the glow from the lamp stall and the contrast between all the light on display from his wares and the man himself, a pensive, patient shadow, so dark that at first you hardly notice him.
Jemaa el-Fnaa
An enormous square next to the old town, the Jemaa el-Fnaa is filled not only with market stalls and street food stalls, but with storytellers, musicians and acrobats. Some are rather too obviously aimed at the tourist, but there are also also many good quality traditional performers.
To preserve these traditions, the locals successfully fought for the Jemaa el-Fnaa to be declared a UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. (No, I hadn’t heard of that, either).
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