El peso de mis vecinas. Objects & Desires presentation at Le18, Marrakesh
Objects & Desires is a narrative inquiry into the objects and people that cross the border between Morocco and Europe, and into the desires they harbour. In keeping with the poetic methodology of the adventurers of old, the Catalan-German artist Christina Schultz will present the results of her research and of her residency at Le 18.
Through her notes, in the form of drawings, conversations and sound recordings, the artist will share a series of situations she has experienced over the course of her investigations. Objects & Desires is a research project that follows the two-fold project El peso de mis vecinas -La poesía y el cante como dispositivos estratégicos (The weight of my neighbours - Poetry and song as strategic devices). It is an investigation into Moroccan goods as the bearers of identity and longing articulated through a journey, encounters and the sharing of everyday activities with the women the artist came across during her wanderings. Schultz's journey began in Barcelona and took her over the Mediterranean to her first stop in Nador, a city on the border with Melilla, where she explored the mobility of goods travelling from Spain and Europe to Morocco, as well as the desires of the women transporting them.
Following the 'off-track' route taken by these goods, the artist's research moved toward Marrakech, the quintessence of the trading city specialising in 'traditional' items such as carpets, cloth, ceramics, argan oil, etc. The project investigates the proximity and separation between the paths of manufactured goods traditionally associated with Morocco and the globally imported, industrial goods that the women sumggle in and distribute to markets across the entire country. At the same time, it questions the divergence between the traditional images of the Moroccan lifestyle sold as souvenirs and the authentic contemporary identity of Moroccans. Moreover, by taking goods and their hidden traces as its starting point, the research also explores the people behind this trade and the desires that move them, desires kindled by the mobility of objects and images. this residency programme, run by Le18 and Jiwar Creation & Society, is supported by the Institut Ramon Llull, La Capella and Nau Côclea and was made possible by many other people.
