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The Fes Festival
The
Fez Festival of World Sacred Music is
a much acclaimed and well established
annual music and artistic festival It
was launched in 1995 and will thus celebrate
its 10th anniversary in June, 2004.
The Festival takes place each year in
the ancient city of Fez, Morocco, a
glorious city with a rich history and
renowned cultural heritage. The festival
draws inspiration from the city's long
traditions of cultural harmony and artistic
and intellectual excellence, as it does
from the dynamic confrontation of modern
and ancient strands in the Fez of today.
The
music festival has as its explicit aim
the bridging of cultural divides and
celebration of diversity, through music
and art; its underlying theme is Giving
Soul to Globalization. The artistic
program is invariably rich and remarkably
diverse. The 2003 fare opened with an
oratorio, “Reconciliation”,
performed by Goran Bregovic (Yugoslavia/Russia/Bulgaria/
Morocco/France), and featured artists
from around the world, including Gilberto
Gil (Brazil) Mohamed Reza Shajarian
(Iran), Yungchen Llamo (Tibet), Doudou
N'Diaye Rose (Senegal), Shekkh Habboush,
the Al Kindi Ensemble and the Whirling
Dervishes (Syria), and The Anointed
Jackson Sisters (United States). The
2004 Anniversary program (May 28 –
June 5) promises to bring the finest
and most challenging artists from the
Festival’s life, with a unifying
theme of peace and what is termed “Traces
de Lumières” – referring
to the light of both individual and
community inspiration.
Besides
the formal concerts, the Festival has
grown to include a youth program, evening
sufi encounters and concerts in the
Medina for the general public. There
are concurrent photographic and film
exhibitions. The Festival website has
much additional information (http://www.fesfestival.com)
, and CDs of the Festivals are readily
available.
The
Fez Festival is very much grounded in
and run from Morocco. It has won wide
international acclaim and support, including
special recognition by UNESCO, which
named its founding genius, Faouzi Skali,
one of its “Unsung Heroes of Dialogue.”
A Moroccan scholar, anthropologist,
and entrepreneur, Skali is also part
of Romano Prodi and the European Commission's
"Groupe des Sages." The Festival
comes under the patronage of the King
of Morocco, and his special advisor,
Mohamed Kabbaj.
Symposium,
Giving Soul to Globalization
Since 2001, the Fez Festival has included,
as an integral part of the program,
a Colloquium, also founded on the theme
"Giving Soul to Globalization".
The Colloquium sets out to help bridge
the gulfs in dialogue separating very
different world views, using the inspiration
of the music and art and the tangible
and audible examples of intercultural
exchange that constitute the Fez Festival
to stimulate new reflection about global
issues. The notion that Fez could be
a bridge between diametrically opposed
world views -exemplified in the widely
separated annual meetings of the World
Economic Forum (Davos) and the World
Social Forum (Porto Alegre) - was present
from the start. Another hope is that
the Fez Symposium will give rise to
a continuing "Club de Fes",
with various activities and networks
extending over the course of the year,
between the annual symposia.
The first, 2001, Symposium began with
little fanfare but it concluded on a
note of hope, as participants saw that
it offered a rare avenue towards different
and productive kinds of dialogue on
critical and sensitive topics. The dialogue
at Fez highlighted the great span in
approaches to globalization issues,
but also some elements – practical
as well as ethical and spiritual - that
united even those who represented sharply
opposing views. There was a start to
communication between some who described
globalization as a vampire force, destroying
traditional cultures, or as a juggernaut
threatening fragile ecosystems, and
others who reveled in the hope for a
world where frontiers to opportunity
were broken down and prosperity helped
to fulfill dreams of a just society.
The
May 2002 Symposium was a more ambitious
effort, drawing a wider range of participants
and larger audience. Its theme was “Paths
to Wisdom”, and the topic generated
much reflection on common values versus
differing perspectives. The Symposium
generated considerable interest both
at the Festival and in subsequent discussions
as a different and important forum for
discussion of globalization issues.
A
book about the 2001 and 2002 Symposia
was published in June, 2003 by Albin
Michel: Donner une Ame a la Mondialisation.
The
2003 Symposium
The 2003 Symposium reflected a third,
much more institutionalized event, and
it was clear that the Fez process has
developed quite strong roots. Under
the overall rubric of “Giving
A Soul to Globalization,” the
unifying theme in 2003 was: "From
my Soul to your Soul: The Art of Transmission".
The starting idea was to focus on education
and its role in imparting and enhancing
cultural values and intercultural harmony.
To this notion was added the role of
the media and communications in globalization
processes, the concept of identity and
spiritual citizenship, and our responsibilities
towards future generations as well as
the social responsibility of corporations.
The
format that has evolved for the Symposium
is a plenary session every morning for
five mornings, based on two panels of
speakers. Each speaker makes a short
presentation, followed by dialogue within
the panel, and discussion with the audience.
The symposium took place in the courtyard
of the Batha Museum under an ancient
and glorious fig tree. The beauty of
the setting and the musical accompaniment
of birds served, as in the previous
year, to create a setting that puts
participants at ease and shakes them
out of habitual patterns of discourse.
The 2003 Symposium had about 60 "speakers",
most international, but also a significant
group from Morocco. Participants are
invited in their personal capacities
(not as representatives of institutions),
with the aim of bringing together a
wide range of perspectives and views,
blending activities and thinkers, policy
makers and critics. The speakers included
(a partial listing to illustrate the
range) Swami Agnivesh, Jacques Attali,
Patrice Barrat, Bertrand Collomb, Regis
Debray, Peter Eigen, Gilberto Gil, Mario
Giro, Candido Grzybowski, Mats Karlsson,
Rabbi Matalon, Fatema Mernissi, Njoki
Njehu, Jean-Claude Petit, Jean-Louis
Sarbib, and Sulak Sivarksa. The moderators
are Faouzi Skali and Katherine Marshall.
The 2003 program was rather heavy on
formal speakers though this had the
benefit of forcing short and focused
presentations.
Among the topics that sparked particular
interest was the ethical responsibility
of the media and its descent into public
relations, social action for corporations,
changing roles for and expectations
from religion, and the role of political
leadership in focusing attention on
global social justice. The varied group
of speakers attracted to the Fez event
tend to shed their traditional perceptions
of identity and belonging, and speak
as humans and brothers and sisters first,
creating real mutual trust that takes
the dialogue to a very different new
plane.
Picture
The
Symposium has two unusual features which
aim to promote thoughtful and engaged
dialogue, beginning with listening.
The first is a daily short musical introduction,
generally with a spiritual theme, to
set the tone; some artists are part
of the music Festival, some are unique
to the Symposium. [Insert 3 music interlude
pictures] The second is that each participant
is asked to introduce themselves with
a symbolic object. The range of objects
is extraordinary, from elemental symbols
of light, earth, and water to more complex
symbolic challenges like multipurpose
cloth garments, a kaleidoscope, and
the echoing music of birds. This device
helps to create a discourse with metaphors
for different, shorthand views of globalization
that highlights far better than standard
phrases the images and presumptions
each speaker brings. Both musical introductions
and symbols as introduction help in
the central aim of breaking away in
the dialogue from established patterns.
They help also to introduce a level
of trust and personalization—the
symbols often leave behind impressions
that words themselves can not carry.
(picture
with symbol)
The Symposium audience is comprised
largely of people drawn to Fez by the
music festival, and is open to the public
(for a charge of $100 for the 5 days).
The event has drawn a substantial, loyal
audience of several hundred, many returning
a second and third year, undeterred
by high temperatures. Other people come
for shorter periods. Participants have
included the Prime Minister of Senegal
and a number of Moroccan and French
ministers. People have come from all
continents, some invited guests but
many attracted by the rare combination
of musical and intellectual fare. Press
interest in the events has increased
steadily, some taking off from the musical
program (which is widely covered), some
specifically focused on the Symposium
dialogue.
Audience
picture
In
sum, there is considerable and growing
interest in the symposium, both in Morocco
and internationally.
A feature of the Symposium, commented
on in some press reports, is the absence
of a specific "stake" –
for example, there has never been an
effort or move to issue “declarations”.
However, over the three years of the
symposium there has been a mounting
drive to direct the talk to action,
to translate the rare and special dialogue
of Fez into something more durable and
wider in its practical application.
This translates into an ongoing exploration
of a vehicle for continuing dialogue
with some institutional focus.
2004
Symposium
The 2004 Symposium will draw its inspiration
from the Festival Theme of “Traces
de Lumiere” (Threads of Light).
It will build on the dialogue of prior
years, pressing further ahead towards
rendering the insights and spirit of
engagement into ideas for concrete action.
The Symposium will have three central
themes. First, the light and inspiration
that can be drawn from a few individuals
who have truly, through inspiration
and courage, made a difference perceptible
at a global level. Second, the issues
around global democracy – engagement
of different actors, balancing rights
with responsibilities, diversity with
common human goals – is to be
explored. Third, the Symposium will
bring leading voices for peace and dialogue
in the Islamic world, broadly, and the
Middle East, more concretely, to explore
new avenues for joining their efforts
towards better and more just worlds.
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This is a background note, written by
Katherine Marshall, World Bank
December, 2003
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