Aadel holds a diploma of in-depth studies in urban sociology "Spaces, societies and cities in the Arab world" (University of Tours, France) and a master's degree in urban and country planning (University of Perpignan, France). His doctoral thesis (not defended) was on "Behaviors and attitudes of individuals in the public space of Casablanca" and on self-presentation and the modalities of social interactions between individuals. Aadel is a cultural policy consultant, technical scenographer and educational director of training at the Institut des Métiers du Spectacle (France, Morocco). He led many training and consulting projects for cultural projects and policies in France and Morocco. In November 2014, 2016 and 2018, Aadel organized, with the Racines association, the "General States of Culture in Morocco". Currently, he is the principal researcher for a research project entitled “Arts and Power: Research on the instrumentalization of art and culture in Morocco" funded by The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC) and the Arab Council for the Social Sciences (ACSS).
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Elephant in the Mediterranean
This action research project will produce a play, featuring a giant puppet wandering in public spaces and engaging with audiences in Morocco, with the aim to deconstruct discourses contributing towards stereotypical perceptions of migrants.
Moroccans live with new configurations and transformations generated by the presence of new communities of migrants in their daily life and public space.
At the same time, migrants may be the “disturbing foreigner” (Freud, 1919) and the object of a double representation : pity or a source of danger.
« An elephant in the Mediterranean », as a research-action project, goes back to Aristotle's Poetics to try to reconstruct catharsis through the two emotions that constitute it: horror and pity. They constitute the guiding axis of the research as two categories of representations forming the hypothesis of a research that focuses on a category of cohabitants who share the same territory, daily life and space, but who are nevertheless carriers of other identities, different referents and cultures, within the Moroccan context.
Horror and pity constitute, at the same time, two elements of the artistic direction of a street theater play, whose main character is a giant elephant puppet (4x3x1,5m), carrying inside actors, telling stories, anecdotes and experienced situations. And above all by bringing to the surface of the public debate the elephant in the Mediterranean, questions around migration, alterity, racism, ...
Project aims:
- Deconstruct discourses that contribute to the popularization of stereotypes and influences the perceptions and representations of the general public on the presence of immigrants;
- Redirect the debate on the basis of objective facts
- Raise awareness among the general public about the daily life of sub-Saharan immigrants, the discrimination they encounter and which prevents them from having a dignified life;
- Improve the interactions and cohabitation of Moroccans with sub-Saharans, in particular building bridges of dialogue and communication to enhance the presence of sub-Saharans as a human, cultural and economic resource in the Moroccan territory;
- Anchor the feeling of alterity and openness towards sub-Saharans for better coexistence in respect of the universal rights of each other
Meet the team:
Aziz Mechouat is a sociology professor at the Faculty of Letters and Humanities of Ain Chock in Casablanca and also a member of the Moroccan Centre for Social Sciences and the LADSIS Laboratory. He is also a founding member of the Arab Centre for Research and Studies in Social Sciences in Rabat. A researcher in the Arabic-speaking project of the Atlas Economic Research Foundation Minbaralhurriyya.org. He works particularly on youth values, identity discourse, social change and social movements. His book "Les valeurs des jeunes casablancais", was published in 2019. He is, since November 11, 2019, director of the MENASSAT Research Centre for Social Research and Studies, Casablanca, Morocco .
Professeur de sociologie à l'université Abdelmalek Essaadi , il est membre fondateur de Menassat pour les Etudes et les Recherches Sociales. Il est aussi membre du Conseil de l’Université et membre principal et associé de plusieurs labos et centres de recherche. Ses recherches scientifiques portent sur le patrimoine et le développement, sur les changements sociaux et culturels et sur les mouvements sociaux. Il participe à plusieurs congrès et colloques nationaux et internationaux. Ses publications comptent entre autres un livre intitulé « Le rif et la culture de la résistance », édité par « IRCAM » à Rabat en 2016, et de nombreux articles publiés dans des revues indexées et ouvrages collectifs autour de l’émigration, des valeurs, du patrimoine, des changements sociaux et culturels dans le nord du Maroc dont le plus récent est intitulé « Unicité et pluralité des référence de valeurs au Maroc » publié dans la revue, KYAM (Valeurs), No.1, 2019.
Early Career Researcher in Social Sciences. She holds a European Diploma in Cultural Project Management. Currently, she is project coordinator at Racines aisbl, an NGO that promotes arts and culture as vectors of democracy and human, social and economic development. Rajaa Co-directed a series of short documentary films covering a variety of social themes (violence against women, migration and forced displacement, Turkey-Syria earthquake, The struggle of the LGBTQIA + community in Morocco, etc.)
Eduardo graduated in Sculpture from the Escola de Belas Artes at UFMG and has worked as a puppeteer and set designer since 2001. He worked at the Grupo de Teatro Catibrum, where he had his first contact with puppets; Giramundo, for which he built, manipulated in shows and participated in the television micro-series “Hoje é dia de Maria”; and Armatrux where he created set designs, costumes and puppets for some montages. Even today he collaborates and builds puppets for various groups in Brazil and abroad. He founded and is artistic director of Pigmalião Escultura que Mexe, in which he develops his research on puppets, dramaturgy, sound performance, and teaching their practices. He has given workshops in Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, Wales, USA, and in several Brazilian cities. He wrote and directed shows like “O Presente” (2007), Pigmaião's first work; “A Filosofia na Alcova”, an adaptation by Sade presented at national and international festivals; O Quadro de Todos Juntos, which received awards and circulated throughout Brazil and Europe; and Macunaïma Gourmet, in partnership with Eid Ribeiro, a reinterpretation of the work of Mário de Andrade. Drawing and watercolor form the basis of all his creations.
Chargée de projets au Centre Menassat pour les Recherches et les Etudes Sociales. Doctorante chercheure en Sociologie dans la thématique "Formes et Figures de l'Altérité Religieuse chez les Jeunes Casablancais". Titulaire d'un Master en Sociologie des Organisations et des Institutions Sociales de l'Université Hassan II de Casablanca. Titulaire d'une Licence en Littérature Française option Communication de l'Université Hassan II de Casablanca. Elle a pris part à plusieurs colloques autour de la migration. Elle a également collaboré sur un article collectif sur "Les Trajectoires Féminines et Les Pratiques Religieuses, étude ethnographique de la vie religieuse des migrantes subsahariennes dans "La Migration et les Défis de la Diversité religieuse, Problèmes et Phénomènes", Ed Ibn Khaldoun, 2023.
Founded in 2007 in Belo Horizonte, Pigmalião Escultura que Mexe proposes philosophical, social and political discussions in its shows, performances and pedagogical actions through the use of puppets. The group has performed in several countries with works that subvert stereotypes related to the theatre of animated forms to provoke the public about issues related to power and submission. The use of giant puppets has, for Pygmalion, the power to attract and bring people together in an incomparably efficient way.
Menassat for Research and Social Studies is a social research institution and non-profit organization based in Casablanca, Morocco. Our main mission is to conduct in-depth sociological research that leads to new ideas for solving problems facing society at the local, national, and regional level.
Menassat consists of researchers from several disciplines who specialize in different sociological fields. The research agenda of the institute is determined by its members and researchers. Menassat is made up of many highly capable researchers including nine professors of sociology, five doctoral students, and five collaborative researchers.
