Marrakech: and an exciting design update

Dear Friends,

I can't believe it's the end of Summer already.  It's flown by, hasn't it? 

I wanted to share a special design update with you! 

Husband Chris Redecke and I are incredibly excited to be in a feature story in this month's House and Garden Magazine!  Many many thanks to the HG editors and especially to amazing writer Dominic Bradbury and fabulous photographer Richard Powers.  It's always such a pleasure to share Peacock Pavilions.

Also thilled to see Peacock Pavilions and my book, Marrakesh by Design, play a tiny role in Rachel Zoe's Zoe Report!  See adorable Figue designer Stephanie Von Watsdorf with it in this great feature here.

Thanks so much for taking time to come by and check in with me:-)

        Warm wishes from even warmer Marrakech (yikes! HOT!)

        Maryam 

The Fez Sacred Music Festival 2013: a tale of gospel and Oh! A Happy Day

It was under a big dark Moroccan sky.  It was under a Fez arch hundreds of years old.  It was there they came...the Zulus.  

They were called the Ladysmith Red Lions and they were from South Africa.

The Lion Zulus came to dance and they came to sing at the Fez  Festival of World Sacred Music. They sang of many things. But mostly they sang of Jesus.

Soon on the stage was  Leanne Faine from Chicago.  Her voice was deep and raspy.  And she belted out songs like a woman on fire.  

She, too, sang of Jesus.

As did Leanne's ensemble band.

And then from California came Butterscotch.  She didn't really sing at all but beat-boxed.  I think {but I can't be sure} that she, too, was inspired by Jesus.

And then something happened.  

Leanne was joined by the Zulu Lions........

And by the beatboxing Butterscotch........

And they all sang gospel together.

{That sort of thing happens at the Fez Festival of World Sacred Music.}

Now I must confess....I never sing about Jesus.  Ever.  But I was on my feet, my hands clapping, and yes, singing about Jesus.  And another thing.....the Moroccan Muslims to my left and to my right {and behind me and in front of me}, I would wager that they never sing about Jesus either.  But they were on their feet, too.  And we were all singing.....

Oh happy day (oh happy day) 
When Jesus washed (when Jesus washed) 
Washed my sins away (oh happy day) 

And for a moment, it really didn't matter what we all believed and what separated us.  And it really was.....a happy day.  And a happy night.

The Fez Sacred Music Festival 2013: a tale of 2 birds on a high wire

I was in that imperial Moroccan city a thousand years old.  I was in Fez.  I had come exactly a year before. And I had come again for the same reason:  the Fez Festival of World Sacred Music.  

The year before I had fallen in love with a girl.  Tonight I would fall in love with another.  Or maybe I would fall in love with two.  

The stage was set for them. 

And then they were there. American singer Rosemary Standley and Spanish cellist Dom La Nena.  Together they were Birds on a Wire.  

Rosemary reminded me of an old French film star. She meandered from Dylan to Fairuz and sang Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits.  Her accent was perfect in several languages. She was timeless.

And when she sang, I could hear her golden fingers.

And when she drummed I could feel her longing.

As for Dom la Nena, her bow across the strings made a heartbreaking and joyous sound.

Too soon, far too soon, it was over.  They got up laughing to say their goodbyes.

And then they clapped for us as they left the stage.  

But really, the applause should have been only for them....

****** 
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PS:  New stock of the very prettiest Moroccan handira -- wedding blankets in my shop, Red Thread Souk.  Take a peek right here.

Marrakech: and a tale of seeing is believing

She sat next to me in the airport in Washington.  Our conversation went something like this:

Her: So going to New York?

Me:  Yes, in transit.  I'm actually going to Marrakech.  You know, in Morocco.

Her:  Morocco?  Marrakech?  Wow!  That's amazing.  I mean, I think it's amazing.  I mean, I don't know for sure.  I've never been or anything.  What's it like?  

And I tried to tell her then.  I tried to tell her about the people.  About the way that they looked and dressed and spoke, and the way they patted their heart when they said hello.  I tried to tell her about the medina and the souks, and the shops filled to overflowing.  I tried to tell her about the architecture and the fortresses and the tiles that went on forever.  And I tried to tell her about the grittiness and the craziness and the sometimes sadness.  

But you know....I am not sure that I could really tell her.  Because the words ...they're not enough.   They could never be enough.  Because you have to see it.  You have to experience it.  You have to feel it.  And only then -- yes, only then....

can you know.  

But I will get closer to explaining it to you, if you watch this.

Watchtower of Morocco from Leonardo Dalessandri on Vimeo.

Many thanks to Leonardo for sending this to me.  {His mother's hopes with that name of his were just about on track.}

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