Photos Catherine Bendayan

From 3 to 11 June

Official opening 10 : 30 A.M. Saturday 3 June

A messenger of images as well as a photographer, Catherine Bendayan is concerned with transmitting one face after another, one song after another, with the light and the emotion. From the morning interviews, to the music of the night, the lights, the faces, the instruments, the hands, all these guide her choice of negatives.

She presents a series of portraits of the performers, the musicians, the Colloquium participants, the organisers … and amongst their faces is found the energy engendered by deep reflection on peace.

In order to conserve the force of this gift from everyone, the photographs are not framed; they are an open song to greet the smiles, the welcome, the passion, the wonder, the trance, the involvement, the exchanges between all cultures present at the festival.

In addition to the lively character of her portraits, Catherine Bendayan adds another energy in the harmony of colours supplied by the costumes and the instruments. These portraits are a reflection of the ‘Spirit of Fez’ where the spectator can allow himself to be swept away into the labyrinthine streets of the medina, to remember or to rediscover the sacred music and to pause for a moment before an image that leads him towards communion with peace.

To accompany this photographic exhibition, Catherine Bendayan has produced a photo/musical exhibit, her voice reading what she has written in ‘l’Esprit de Fès’. This is a work from the heart and from the spirit for us to discover in the Museum Hall.