Marrakech: and a tale of the Marrakech Biennale

Dear friends,

The Fifth Edition of the Marrakech Biennale starts tomorrow! 

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This is one of my very favorite events!  The mission of the Biennale is to build bridges between cultures through the arts. This is expressed through visual arts, cinema and video, literature, and performing arts.  I'm always eager to see what Vanessa Branson and her team have cooked up.  {This is the same Branson family genius that has brought so many amazing things to the world -- ie the bar is always set very high.}

Here I am with Vanessa in Marrakech.

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This edition of the Biennale includes over 350 contributors spread over 8 venues, including the Badii Palace, the Royal Theater, and the Jemma el Fnaa square.  The Biennale runs through March 31.  So if you are planning to be in Marrakech any time in the next month, make sure to make it a part of your agenda. 

Find out more about the Biennale right here, including the theme, the venues, & the program schedule.  If you can't make it this year........start planning for 2016:-)

Love your friend in a Marrakech olive grove,

Maryam 

Marrakesh: and a tale of a once revolutionary Valentine

You might think you know me but here’s the thing…..I used to be a revolutionary.  

I consorted with campus radicals.   I built shantytowns in protest.  I stood in silent fury at candle light vigils.  I even went to Guatemala to attend the 500 year anniversary of resistance to Columbus. 

I decried the system, I protested organized religion, I mocked state-sponsored traditional values.

And then I met, Chris

Chris wasn’t a revolutionary.  Quite to the contrary.  On our second date, I accused him of being a Republican because of his attitude towards medication costs for the poor.  

I didn’t believe in marriage then.  I thought it was a set of societal shackles that encumbered rather than protected.  Chris disagreed.  He was Catholic.  And he wanted to marry me.  (I’m not sure why he wanted to go on a third date, much less marry me.) That was his line in the sand.  And so eventually….I married him.  And it was a happy day. 

15 years later, I am still married. 

Here’s the thing, marriage is tricky and I think that maybe I’m not an easy woman to be married to.  But somehow….he still stands by me

And so on this Hallmark sort of day, I pay a little tribute to my life partner, Chris.  

Maryam Montague & Chris Redecke

And to you, friends, wherever you may be…….Happy Valentine’s day.  May there always be love in your heart whether you are married, single or something else………...

Image by Photographer Christine Johnson

Cairo: and a tale of jewelry

I was already late for my plane to Cairo, when she turned her head from the monitor and said, We'll need to look in your bag.

 I was impatient as I opened it but she ignored my scowling.  She lifted the large zippered mesh pouch  out of my bag.  Jewelry?  she asked.  Yes, I replied.  She smiled at me then and said, You're all set.

And I sort of was. 

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 Rings from Bouvier.

IMG_4172Bronze fish ring bought in Cairo.

IMG_4159Earring from Bouvier.

IMG_4136Earrings from Azza Fahmy.

IMG_4134Ring from Azza Fahmy.

IMG_4154Bracelets from Bouvier.

IMG_4168Woven silver bracelet from Orijyn

 

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Necklace from Mallory May (I covet the gold version, too.)

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Vintage Moroccan earrings bought in the souks.

PS Which one is your favorite?

PPS It's gotten so confusing in the blog world hasn't it? But if you're wondering, no, I don't make a penny if you click on these links. These are all pieces that I genuinely love and wear.  

Marrakesh: and a tale of Peacock Pavilions tribal chic

What will you do now? She wondered.

What do you mean? I replied.

I mean, what will you do now that Peacock Pavilions is all done? Now that it's all decorated? She asked.

Oh, it's never done, I said.  No, no never done.  

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 Egyptian bowls, one with a vintage snake surround on the bottom and the other 2 filled with African fish vertebrae.  Also a little shooting star zellij tile piece.  In the background roses in the fountain that we built ourselves.  

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Moroccan painted ink pot, next to an antique Tibetan altar table.

_MJM9668Moroccan green and white bowl, vintage Indian round box, bejeweled brush bought in the souk.

_MJM9650Antique Filipino nina, topped by a vintage Peruvian halo.  Next to it, part of a huge old bronze Indian urli.

_MJM9640Vintage hand embroidered skull caps bought in Kabul in an old wooden Jewish couscous platter.  Couch covered in a vintage Moroccan blanket.  Cushions that I pieced together from African blankets, German velvet and snippets of old saris.  A vintage Indian yoga sculpture in the background.

_MJM9644Vintage African sculpture bought in Ghana, wearing old motorcycle goggles purchased in Cairo's Khan el Khalili. and antique Malian glass beads

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Golden Indian peacock mirror.  Vintage Egyptian and Ethiopian processional crosses bought in Cairo and Addis Ababa.

_MJM9658Antique Moroccan jade pottery collection.  One piece filled with peacock feathers, shed from our very own peacocks at Peacock Pavilions.

PS I'm in Egypt, right now.

PPS My publisher just told me that they are going back to press for another printing of my Moroccan design book, Marrakesh by Design!  So excited.  Do you have a copy yet?  What did you think?