Gnawa and World Music Festival raises curtains
Morocco, Local, 6/24/2005

Essaouira is once again the capital of world music and a crossroads of cultures at the 8th Gnawa and World Music Festival that raised curtains in Essaouira Thursday night.

Thousands of Moroccan and foreign music lovers teemed Place Moulay El-Hassan, Essaouira's main square, to attend the opening ceremony that featured Moroccan Maalem (Masters) Hamid El Kasr, Abdeslam Alikane and Abdelkebir Merchane. Several foreign musicians joined the party in a token to the universality of music language.

The opening ceremony attracted a dozen of Moroccan and international journalists and several famous satellite channels, which reflects the international recognition that Gnawa music enjoys.

Gnawa is a mystical form of music that draws its roots from the Gnawas, descendants of black slaves. It has now become an integral part of the life of the wind city inhabitants and has gained international recognition.

Gnawa appeared in Morocco some three centuries ago in Essaouira, which was a port for trade between Africa and Europe. During this period, black African slaves, from whom the Gnawa are descended, were exchanged for goods imported from Europe along with ostrich feathers, gold and salt.

Gnawa is a ritual of deliverance for the body and the mind, a therapeutic affair with elements of black African culture and Islam.

Former Mogador is hosting, June 23-26, some 300 musicians and singers coming from Africa, Asia, Europe, the USA and Morocco to stage concerts on the nine stages prepared for this event.

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