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History of the 1st and 2nd edition of the Taragalte Sahara Culture Festival in M'hamid El Ghizlane, South Morocco |
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Taragalte according to the historian Jacques-Miller is the old name of the oasis of M' hamid. In his work entitled "Le Maroc saharien des origines à 1670" he also mentions that on the other hand, archaeology also gives interesting data: in the oases of Mhamid, there are the remains of the ruins of an important fortified town known as "Qsbet el Aâlouj" a fort of the Foreign legion. It was a well-known fortified town with the local traditions. It also appears to have to been identified with the kasba where the Saâidian Sultans had their own customs and their gold currency and where they struck their coins. This famous Saâidian kasba was locatednear the important town of Taragale (Marmol III, 15). Other archaeological data that was given by Marmol was the fact that "powder that came from Sudan (by Terhaza) was melted, weighed and marked in the kasba close to Taragalte before being sent to Lektaoua and to Marrakech. This data also states that Taragalte and it's kasba were in an oasis more to the south than thatfLektaoua and it could only be what we call M'hamid El Ghizlane today. |
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Why these festivals in M'hamid El Ghizlane? The 1st festival in 2009 was planned to coincide with the celebration of the 51e anniversary of the visit of the HM the late King Mohamed V in M'Hamid El Ghizlane in 1958.Both Taragalte Sahara Culture Festivals were organized by two brothers, Halim and Ibrahim Sbaï. It was their father, Mohamed Chiekh Sbai and another members of the nomad tribes from the area with whom the late King Mohamed V met. The highlight of the 1st festival was the music band Tinariwen from Mali while the 2nd festival concentrated on the "Women of the Sahara". |
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The main themes of the festival were: The knowledge and respect of the natural environment of the desert which have always been the way of life for the Nomads. The culture and the music which have always included respect for this desert environment and they are an expression of the ancestral way of lifestyle and it's sublime harmony with a durable lifestyle. The harmony in the poetry, the song, the rhythm and the dance and joy that has its place in the apparent austerity of the desert! Poetry is important for the tribes of the Nomads and is accompanied by the music. It is obviously very important that these "stories "remain in alive. Music speaks especially about the respect for the desert and its inhabitants. ALL THESE ACTIONS CONVERGED TOWARDS THE SAME OBJECTIVE: THAT THESE GATHERINGS BECOME A CULTURAL AND MUSICAL EVENT: THE TARAGALTE SAHARA CULTURE FESTIVALS |
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The 1st and 2nd Taragalte Festivals would lead the way in keeping the "roots" of the traditional culture alive for the following generations to come. They also gave the opportunity for all those present from different organisations to meet each other and discuss different projects. As Sahara Roots has been very involved in helping with these first two festivals as well as with the making of the original website we decided to share the History of the Taragalte Sahara Culture Festivals with you. |
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