'Elephant in the Mediterranean' performance dates announced

Racines presents 'Elephant in the Mediterranean', a theatrical stroll through the public spaces of various Moroccan cities, featuring the main character, a giant elephant puppet.

April 8, 2024

Elephant in the Med

Racines, in partnership with the Brazilian company Pigmalião (Escultura Que Mexe), as part of the MADAR (Maghreb Action on Displacement and Rights) Network Plus, presents "Elephant in the Mediterranean" (4x3x1.5m), with actors on board to tell stories, anecdotes and situations experienced by migrants, dealing with issues of migration, otherness, racism, etc. (synopsis below).

The giant elephant is touring in :

- Casablanca - 08/04/2024 - L’Battoir at 4.30 pm

- Casablanca - 09/04/2024 - Place Bechar Kheir at 4.30 pm

- Tiznit - 16/04/2024 - Place Istiqbal at 7pm

- Zagora - 18/04/2024 - Place du Centre Culturel at 6pm

- M'hamid El Ghizlane - Opening of the Taragalte Festival in November 2024

About “Elephant in the Mediterranean”

Moroccans are experiencing new configurations and transformations linked to the presence of new migrant communities in the public space and in their daily lives. "Elephant in the Mediterranean' goes back to Aristotle's Poetics in an attempt to reconstruct Catharsis through the two emotions that constitute it: horror and pity.

In a context where a category of individuals with different identities and cultures share the same territory, the same daily realities and the same spaces, horror and pity emerge as two decisive elements of a new catharsis. Horror and pity are two of the components of the artistic direction of this theatrical tour, whose main character is a giant elephant puppet, in which actors tell stories, anecdotes and real-life situations. Bringing the issues of migration, otherness, racism, etc. to the surface of public debate.

The play was drafted based on research carried out by Menassat for research and social studies (a research non-profit organization), aiming at exploring various perceptions among Moroccans regarding the presence of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa in Morocco, based on the concept of “alterity”. The research was carried out in the following cities: El Jadida, Casablanca, Fez, Tangiers and Agadir.

News