an art and cultural project about Morocco

1. A JOURNEY THROUGH MOROCCO

2. Where is Morocco?
•Morocco is located in the northwest corner of Africa and is bordered by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
•Algeria and Western Sahara are the land borders to the south and east.

3. What is the capital city of Morocco?
•The capital city of Morocco is Rabat, although the largest city is Casablanca with nearly 4 million people.
•Other major cities in Morocco include Marrakech, Tangier, Tetouan, Salé, Fes, Agadir, Meknes, Oujda, Kenitra, and Nador.

4. Can you find Morocco on the map?

5. HISTORY
•Morocco is just across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain. From 1912 to 1956 the country was divided into French and Spanish zones—two small Spanish-controlled areas, Ceuta and Melilla still remain today.
•King Mohammed VI, who has ruled since 1999.
•Morocco is one of only three kingdoms left on the continent of Africa.

6. What do we know about Morocco?
•OFFICIAL NAME: Kingdom of Morocco
•FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Constitutional monarchy
•CAPITAL: Rabat
•POPULATION: 31,968,361
•OFFICIAL LANGUAGES: Arabic, Berber dialects, French
•MONEY: Moroccan Dirham
•AREA: 172 square miles (447 square kilometers)
•MAJOR MOUNTAIN RANGES: Atlas, Rif
•MAJOR RIVERS: Draa

7. People and culture
Moroccan cities commonly have mosques with beautiful towers called minarets, market areas called bazaars, old medieval sections called medinas and old fortresses called kasbahs.

8. •Mosques with beautiful towers called minarets, and bazaars are common in Morocco.
•Medinas are the old medieval section of cities.
• Old fortresses called kasbahs are strong buildings built from palm-tree fibers and mud from the riverbanks.

9. MEDINAS old medieval city
KASBAHS old fortressess

10. What can we buy in a Bazaar?
•Market areas called Bazaars.
•We can find lots of hand made moroccon art work: rugs, pottery, music instruments, jewelry,etc.

11. people
•Ethnically, Moroccans are predominately of Berber (North African indigenous) and Arabic decent.
•The Berber people have been living in North Africa for centuries, historically living in the mountainous areas but in more recent times moving to the cities for work.
•The official languages of Morocco are Berber and Arabic.

12. FOOD AND DRINK
•Green tea with mint and sweetened with sugar is a popular Morocco drink..
•The most famous of Moroccan dishes is couscous, kebab etc. The food is very spicy and tasty.
•Desserts are usually fruits or pastries, which are often filled with almond/ marzipan.

13. MOROCCON ART
MOROCCON
ART

14. MOSAICS
•The arts practiced in Morocco are identifiable by the bold geometric patterns and rich colors.
• The colors and patterns are seen in handmade carpets, ceramics, mosaics and fabric. These traditions have been practiced for centuries with the artisans.

15. MOROCCON GATES
•The gates are the offical entrance to the cities, also most of them are royal entrances.
•The gates have got a horseshoe shape arch.
•They are very decorative with floral inscriptions etc.
•The gates are made of stones.

16. FATIMA’S HAND
•Fatima’s hand is a talisman for good luck and protection.
•It is hung of the walls of the houses.
•It is engraving in silver or gold or it is painted in red.

17. Moroccon rugs and fabrics

18. NOW THAT WE KNOW ABOUT MOROCCO. Let’s start our art and crafts activities:
Let’s create our own moroccon mosaic.
•Have a look to the following website:.https://www.google.es/search?q=moroccan+sweets&client=firefox- a&hs=fET&rls=org.mozilla:ca:official&channel=sb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=st0GVOmfOYPV0QXQzYCwDA&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1024&bih=657#channel= sb&q=morocco+geometricals+patterns&rls=org.mozilla: ca:official&tbm=isch&imgdii=_
•Draw your mosaic using differents geometrical patterns .
•Colour it with different colours.