Yes, dear readers...
The Gnawa post that I promised you isn't getting near the post-phase anywhere. It's a very huge paper, full of information, interdiction, academia, pet theories, pictures... you name it.
Making it so fast and hastily would render the whole post as null. And, maybe that's why I came here to write these words, in hopes that, maybe you can be patient with me.
On another vein, and this I say with a bittle grievance: How come no-one's interested enough in contributing something that so far, I haven't received a single email... save from a Cambridge Ph.D. music student who had to apologise for not being a specialist on the subject (her name's Tal, and she specialises in Child Music Theories)?
This is an age of conglomerates, alliances, and bound efforts we're living today. I am positive that when more than one works on anything, togetherness makes it better. In the Arab world, we have a saying that goes, "a single hand does not clap." But, I guess I shall go at it alone. It isn't help I am looking for but variety of points of view.
Cutting a long one short, I shall apologise myself here to you adamantly, for being late in finishing it, and ask you to stay tuned in the meantime. In case some of you want to write anything... I repeat, anything on the subject of Gnawa, do so please. You can find my email on my Blogger profile.
I leave you all now with a teaser photorama of some Gnawa musicians (consider this as a "sorry-for-being-late!" photo-statement), plus some postcard pictures of Moroccan women (theme: tambourine players) part of a very huge picture-post that I amassed from collecting rare, old postcards from Morocco, Algiers, and Tunis.
Gnawa Musicians
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| A group of Gnawa musicians. 1860s. |
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| 'Sudanese' Musicians - Morocco. circa 1920s. |
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| The Little Chioukchs: Gnawa kids. circa 1920s. |
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| Gnawa musicians in Essouria. circa 1940-50s. |
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| Chanteur-Musicien Ambulant Marocain - Ambulant Musician, Rabat. 1930s. |
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| Father and son Gnawaists, Oran. |
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| Old Gnawa musician. circa 1910s. |
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| Musicien Negre - A French old postcard. circa 30s. |
Mauresque Tambourine Players
Postcards
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| Harem Maroc. |
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| Negresse De Harem. Old postcard. |
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| Danseuse Arabe - Maroc. |
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| Danseuse Coloris. |
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| Femme Mauresque. |
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| Fille Arabe. |
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| Danse du Tambourine. |
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| Danseuse Arabes. |
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| Mauresques. |
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| Untitled. |
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| Mauresque. |
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| Untitled. |
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Danseuse Arabe
Lehnert & Landrock - Tunis. |
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A Tambourine player, Morocco
Getty Archives. circa 1890s. |
Now, after you've enjoyed these pictures... all I can say is the following:
The Gnawa post will be entertaining and very impressive. New-found knowledge is not easy to come by, trust me. And, in case you wanted it any faster, you could've Goo'd 'Gnawa' and read about it at any webshite that has zero-percent knowledge to offer any of yinz.So, be patient with me, aite babes?Rite awn.H.H.
