Reflect on the natural and cultural richness of Moroccan humanity as seen in recent exhibitions by photographer Ibrahim Benkirane, whose lens focuses on Moroccan olive trees.
This new exhibition is being hosted by the German Goethe Institute at its headquarters in Rabat as part of a series of exhibitions dedicated to environment and climate in the Mediterranean region and is expected to run in the capital until early July next year.
With documentary photography, this exhibition allows you to contemplate the tree, which is nature and life, which today is living its hardest days in the world, and this is also culture; The culture of caring for trees and nature from the period of care to the period of collection and era, as well as the Moroccan culture of life; Food, medicine and decoration, be it olives or nectar; “Oil and olives” is an integral part of social life and imagination, or “Moroccan experience”.
The life of olive trees, presented to the viewer of the exhibition between the colors of youth, maturity and withering, shows the unity of the experience of living beings and warns of closeness that must be preserved.
Between the branch of a tree on which the lens focuses on one of its fruits, neighboring trees in a collective presence and the traditions of life associated with this cultivation, this exhibition documents a special world in the regions of Meknes, Marrakech and Beni Mellal. .
The viewer cannot help but recall the two-sided example of the olive tree or man’s relationship to nature in general: the unequal relationship between two living beings; A person who gives conditionally, and a plant that does not spare its children or does not have the ability to resist the form of its exploitation.
The olive tree is also on display as a sign of glory, grace and abundance of goodness. But this presence must not forget the possible backlash that seeps in whenever there are cracks in the neglect, exploitation and acceptance of ongoing complicity.
In another part of the exhibition, images of drip irrigation pipes, which can be thought of as surface documentation, are a radiant image of human creativity that inspires hope in its relationship to nature, water and plants, even if its premise is utilitarian, so the pipes appear as breathing devices that revitalize the earth. and homeland.
A man does not miss an exhibition, a piece of trees hiding behind their branches, or a hand bearing their blessing, or even a dominant creature meeting his gentle with a stick that beats and does not stop hurting him, except when his branches are empty.
The olive nectar is brought to the exhibition at the stage of its preparation, and then next to its constant companions in this part of the world to make tea and bread seasoned with olive oil.
Far from the many eternal moments and their possible interpretations, the exhibition allows you to enjoy the greenery, wealth and human life of the Moroccan.
