It’s snack time at the house next door to the grocer. Mint tea, doughnuts cut into pieces the day before and drizzled with honey and melted butter. The great aunt turns her empty glass of tea upside down and, using two small spoons, sets the rhythm.
The mother then begins to sing, her voice so beautiful that it makes her daughter want to go and get the Bendir; her essay for tomorrow can wait. To answer the Bendir, king of the parties with such generous basses, the brother, still a teenager, with a delighted smile on his lips, finds an empty
corner of the table and gives two regular consecutive taps. The percussion of this little orchestra goes so far back in popular memory that the neighbours echo with youyous. Perhaps they’ll join in this party, whose only raison d’être is the sound of two spoons against an empty glass of tea.
This world is buried deep in my memory. It tastes of mint and hot sugar, smells of orange blossom on a spring afternoon. Now that it’s mentioned, I wonder if it really existed or if I invented it. It doesn’t really matter.
Aassmaa Akhannouch
Cyanotype transferred and enhanced with watercolour on fine art paper
©Aassmaa Akhannouch, courtesy Galerie Esther Woerdehoff
Together with Moroccan artist Aaassmaah Akhannouch, we are inviting you to take part in a charity sale to coincide with the exhibition of her new work, Un monde oublié.
Our gallery has always given pride of place to artists from the Maghreb countries, and is in solidarity with the women, children and men of Morocco who have lost everything in one night.
From each sale, we will donate 30% to the special fund set up by the Moroccan government to manage the effects of the earthquake.
The price of the works is 1 000€. 300€ donated to Morocco is not much, but every gesture counts.
– Esther Woerdehoff & Jehan de Bujadoux
Cyanotype transferred and enhanced with watercolour on fine art paper
©Aassmaa Akhannouch, courtesy Galerie Esther Woerdehoff