M’hammed Kilito was in the Netherlands earlier this month, a day before his home country, Morocco, closed its borders to curtail the spread of the coronavirus. Luckily, he made it home on the last plane before they were closed.
Since he was returning from Europe, Kilito had to self-quarantine for 14 days, away from his family. The pandemic has, without a doubt, turned normal on its head. Much like Kilito’s artwork, it has disrupted the status quo.
Usually, the touristic representation of Morocco is orientalist and sensationalising
Like many of his peers, the photographer, 39, tries to change the way Morocco is seen through his images. The country is photographed extensively, but often the pictures are restricted to its desert, technicolour souqs and geometric architecture. "Usually, the touristic representation of Morocco is orientalist and sensationalising," Kilito tells The National. "In Marrakesh, you see it. It's completely losing its soul because we want to shape it towards the tourist's expectations."
Kilito wants to upend the stereotypes, but his priority is to bring Moroccans into step with their own reality. “We have this very monolithic way of seeing Morocco. But that is very false – it is so many things,” he says.
Kilito's current project, Portrait of a Generation, explores "what it is to be young today in Morocco". It covers sports clubs, rural barriers to education and urban music festivals.
One chapter of the project, called Among You, is a portrait series of young Moroccans, including a tattooed punk rocker and a female bodybuilder, who confront the traditional norms of their society.
“These pictures, in the western world, would not be interesting. In Morocco, it’s quite particular,” he says. “When I show those pictures to people, the first thing they ask me is: ‘Are those people Moroccan?’”
When he was in high school, the children listening to Metallica were seen as freaky, Kilito says, but the internet and globalisation brought new ideas. Young Moroccans are “developing their own identities” and pushing the limits of what they feel is too conservative. “It’s very courageous,” he says, recalling the awe he felt towards one subject, Randa, who walks around her conservative town of Tetouan in Gothic outfits and a leather choker.
Kilito hopes shining a light on people in the margins of society will make others think more critically and see that no matter how different people are from each other, they can still belong and represent one society. “I’m more interested in the question than the answer,” he says, echoing the mantra of experimental American photographer Duane Michals.
Kilito, who studied sociology, sees photography as a way to “humanise statistics”, such as a 13 per cent unemployment rate among young people between 15 and 24 years, according to World Bank data from last year. Thinking like a documentary-maker, he narrates the dreams and frustrations of the people behind those numbers through his photo series.
Fellow photographer Yassine Ismaili, 35, known as Yoriyas, also writes a new narrative for Morocco, but he works with the drama of single images. After a knee injury ended his breakdancing career, he started photographing other dancers, then turned to the streets. He plays with synchronicity, capturing moments when the mundane chaos of his native Casablanca aligns, like Czech photographer Josef Koudelka did across Europe.
The images nudge you to look beyond the postcard vision of Morocco. Yoriyas calls his photography a “counterexample to the visual record” of Casablanca as seen through guidebooks. Every picture on his Instagram is tagged #CasablancaNotTheMovie. In them, people are living, not performing, and that makes them relatable.
In January, a hulking, 19th-century fort in Rabat reopened as Morocco’s first National Photography Museum. Yoriyas was named curator, and he filled its courtyards and ocean-sprayed ramparts with works by Moroccan photographers, including those of Kilito. Yoriyas did not exhibit celebrity photographers, instead choosing to highlight the young generation, most of whom had never exhibited before.
Smartphones have made photography accessible and Instagram offers widespread exposure. Mourad Fedouache, 19, whose photos are in the exhibition, started taking photos with a broken mobile phone. His main subject: the small-town market where he sells pumpkins with his parents.
Street photography is popular, despite most Moroccans’ aversion to cameras and the police often demanding authorisation. One photographer in the exhibition, Fatima Serri, 24, recently started taking pictures on the side to her accounting job. She critiques the sexism and pressures women face in her conservative community.
Ismail Zaidy, 22, known as L4rtiste, is also a recent arrival on the scene, making Minimalist compositions with his rooftop’s glaring whitewash as a backdrop. His strength is his subtle sense of colour and texture, and support from his family.
Zaidy's mother picks out the fabrics and his siblings pose. His focus is on aesthetics, but there is a message: there are ways to imagine Morocco without leaning on obvious tropes. He involves cultural symbols such as the hijab, and shoots in local landscapes. But "it does not have to necessarily look like Morocco, or have patterns that people associate with Morocco", Zaidy says.
Musicians such as Issam or Malca are painting new self-portraits with music videos, and others, such as Chater Karim, are creating hip fashion scenes via Instagram.
“We all get to decide how Morocco is portrayed,” Kilito says. He wants new visions of Morocco to spread, but when it comes to exhibitions, he says: “We are converting people who are already converted. It’s always the same elites who go to openings.”
But the new museum is next to a working-class neighbourhood, near a football field and a popular seaside sunset spot. “I’m seeing people I’m not used to seeing at exhibitions,” he says.
Mehdy Mariouch, 34, who is also featured in the exhibition, made portraits of unemployed miners in the crumbling coal town of Jerrada. But his subjects could not travel, so he plastered the life-size photos on the walls of abandoned buildings there.
Even though the talent is here, making a living and getting seen is tough. Kilito has found hope at the Addis Foto Fest in Ethiopia, where African photographers could talk about shared realities and build mutual support. He is adamant that Morocco and its neighbours need to craft their own photo industries. “In Morocco, after a certain time, you see everyone, you meet everyone, and that is it,” Kilito says. “So to do more is to look abroad.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Astra%20Tech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMarch%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAbdallah%20Abu%20Sheikh%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20technology%20investment%20and%20development%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%20size%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24500m%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Match info:
Portugal 1
Ronaldo (4')
Morocco 0
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 2
Suarez (10'), Messi (52')
Real Madrid 2
Ronaldo (14'), Bale (72')
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
The five pillars of Islam
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPowertrain%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle%20electric%20motor%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E201hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E310Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBattery%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E53kWh%20lithium-ion%20battery%20pack%20(GS%20base%20model)%3B%2070kWh%20battery%20pack%20(GF)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETouring%20range%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E350km%20(GS)%3B%20480km%20(GF)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh129%2C900%20(GS)%3B%20Dh149%2C000%20(GF)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The bio:
Favourite film:
Declan: It was The Commitments but now it’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
Heidi: The Long Kiss Goodnight.
Favourite holiday destination:
Declan: Las Vegas but I also love getting home to Ireland and seeing everyone back home.
Heidi: Australia but my dream destination would be to go to Cuba.
Favourite pastime:
Declan: I love brunching and socializing. Just basically having the craic.
Heidi: Paddleboarding and swimming.
Personal motto:
Declan: Take chances.
Heidi: Live, love, laugh and have no regrets.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The biog
DOB: March 13, 1987
Place of birth: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia but lived in Virginia in the US and raised in Lebanon
School: ACS in Lebanon
University: BSA in Graphic Design at the American University of Beirut
MSA in Design Entrepreneurship at the School of Visual Arts in New York City
Nationality: Lebanese
Status: Single
Favourite thing to do: I really enjoy cycling, I was a participant in Cycling for Gaza for the second time this year
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
UAE squad
Ali Kashief, Salem Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdelrahman, Mohammed Al Attas (Al Jazira), Mohmmed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammad Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Eisa, Mohammed Shakir, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Adel Al Hosani, Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah), Waleed Abbas, Ismail Al Hammadi, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai) Habib Fardan, Tariq Ahmed, Mohammed Al Akbari (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Mahrami (Baniyas)
Explainer: Tanween Design Programme
Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.
The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.
It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.
The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.
Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
More coverage from the Future Forum
Read more about the coronavirus
The specs: 2018 Bentley Bentayga V8
Price, base: Dh853,226
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 550hp @ 6,000pm
Torque: 770Nm @ 1,960rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 11.4L / 100km
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
What is a Ponzi scheme?
A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
THE BIO
Age: 33
Favourite quote: “If you’re going through hell, keep going” Winston Churchill
Favourite breed of dog: All of them. I can’t possibly pick a favourite.
Favourite place in the UAE: The Stray Dogs Centre in Umm Al Quwain. It sounds predictable, but it honestly is my favourite place to spend time. Surrounded by hundreds of dogs that love you - what could possibly be better than that?
Favourite colour: All the colours that dogs come in
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
The specs: 2018 Peugeot 5008
Price, base / as tested: Dh99,900 / Dh134,900
Engine: 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power: 165hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 240Nm @ 1,400rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 5.8L / 100km
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
if you go
The flights
Air France offer flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi to Cayenne, connecting in Paris from Dh7,300.
The tour
Cox & Kings (coxandkings.com) has a 14-night Hidden Guianas tour of Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. It includes accommodation, domestic flights, transfers, a local tour manager and guided sightseeing. Contact for price.
The five pillars of Islam
Abaya trends
The utilitarian robe held dear by Arab women is undergoing a change that reveals it as an elegant and graceful garment available in a range of colours and fabrics, while retaining its traditional appeal.
