May Day Protest in Rabat

Workers protest unemployment, wages, and government policies on International Labor Day. “Lhokuma maghrebia: zero!” (trans: the Moroccan government: Zero!)

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Spinning thread, on different levels

40 percent of Morocco’s export comes from textile makers, and the industry operates across a huge spectrum of production levels, from needle and thread to modern factories and technology. Walking through the alleys of Fes you often see boys or men with hand-held motors spinning individual spools of thread that are attached at one end to an ancient wall:

Here is the sound of the motor spinning, with the bonus of a conversation with the spooler, explaining the purpose of his work (the thread gets sewn into caftans, jelabas…) and then the common Moroccan experience of having our dialogue interrupted by a third party, who feels the need to translate, and we talk about the spooler’s uncle who lives in America, and we end with the third party beginning to talk about his personal business, selling carpets.

The next level up is a shoelace and belt making factory located behind a nondescript door in the medina, where two rooms have been crammed with German machines furiously and loudly sewing. It’s a family owned and run business.

The second hand market at Bab Boujeloud

The Fes Tanneries

Working in the Fes Tanneries has been classified as one of the most difficult and dangerous jobs in the world.

Three minutes in the public oven

Traditional Moroccan homes do not have individual ovens, instead, for centuries people have taken their kneaded dough to communal ovens that are located in each neighborhood. Nowadays many families in Fes do have their own small ovens, but most Moroccans still prefer the taste of bread looked after by the neighborhood baker. Public ovens are busy spaces–in this recording you hear the sound of bread being shoveled in and out of the fire, tossed into a pile, prices shouted out, and of course greetings as people pass through to drop off dough and buy bread.

Walk in Fes Jdid

A walk down the main thoroughfare in Fes Jdid, from Bab al-Makina all the way to Bab Semarrine. It is filled with merchants selling food, clothing, rugs, scarfs, toiletries, shoes, upholstery fabric,- you name it. In this recording you hear a cacophony of people yelling out prices, people greeting each other, shop music, and bits of conversations.

Metal Worker in the Medina