Louis Armstrong and Lillian Boutté. For a long time, they were New Orleans' only "Musical Ambassadors," though some other jazz greats have since joined their ranks. So Tangier was honored to have Lillian Boutté & The Gigolos for the latest edition of Tanjazz, an annual festival that attracts a wide audience of Tanjawis and visitors … Read more Tanjazz and New Orleans’ Musical Ambassador
As the site of the Peace Corps Morocco training center in the 1970s, and as home to the Legation's "Cistern Chapel" of Peace Corps disco fame, TALIM is happy to help spread the word about the "Call for Memories" project below. Gerald Loftus
Photo by Rachid Tefersiti Perhaps I should say Ramadan Notes 1432 (A.H., not A.D.). We marked Ramadan in the traditional ways the Legation has ever since my predecessor Thor Kuniholm established the pattern. We started the week with our Moroccan NGO partners FTAM (the Fondation Tanger al-Madina) and the distribution of foodstuffs to needy families … Read more Ramadan Notes 2011
Well, we did it. The "we" is many: the three artists – American, Moroccan, French (see photo below) – who donated their works depicting our historic building to the Legation for its permanent collection. The many people – expats, Moroccans, art galleries, hotels, restaurants, and artists – who donated raffle (known as "tombola" here) prizes … Read more Paint the Legation: Tangier Comes Through
I don't yet have the picture of the smiling women who were handed their diplomas yesterday, but here's a diploma of someone who missed graduation day (click on picture to enlarge.) My favorite "graduate" wasn't even at the end of her program. But our teacher gave her a diploma as a sort of "Ms. Congeniality" … Read more Graduation Day Is When You Can Read Your Diploma
Now that it's almost over, I finally get around to writing about Tarab Tanger, a five-day long festival of traditional world music that is now in its third edition. For a discussion of the meaning of tarab, Oudman has a very thoughtful piece. From the looks of it, this festival, one among the many in … Read more Tarab Tanger: Traditional Music From the World Over
Banjo, oud, gimbri, mandolin, guitar, tambourines, and… chopsticks. Though the combination was unlikely, the result was anything but cacophony. The fusion was complete. "Bluegrass Maghribi" is the name of a pickup band of Americans and Moroccans, brought together by the cultural diplomats at the American Embassy in Rabat, and sponsored here by the American Language … Read more Appalachian Andalusian Berber Bluegrass – Fusion in Tangier
The setting is magnificent: the Palais des Institutions Italiennes, home to several Italian cultural institutes and NGOs (Elisa Chimenti, COSPE). A.k.a. the Moulay Hafidh palace, the venue is one of Tangier's most prestigious, and the arcades around an Islamic garden make for a perfect setting to browse the bookstalls. This year, for the first time … Read more Tangier’s Salon du Livre – Much More Than a Book Fair
Wildlife in the medina of Tangier Actually, the French Consulate General isn't in the medina any longer (the old French Legation was in a historic building – Dar al Niyaba – that once housed the Sultan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the International Zone era). Now it's at the center of the modern city, la … Read more Legation Lions & Les Oies du Consulat
They were handing out red roses to (some) women at Tangier's Ibn Battuta Airport on International Women's Day. Nice gesture. Just like some organizations – websites, news media, governments, private industry – mark the day, until they get to the next de rigueur event, like Earth Day. Points on the calendar. Check. What happens the … Read more International Women’s Day – All the Days After
