Do you know that you can be a participant in an experience in Morocco with Erasmus + ?

My name is Veronica and I participated in July 2023 for my second time to a project in Morocco in a small town called Larache, close to Tanger, situated on the coast. The project lasted a week and it was called “ATJ MOVE”. There were dancers, musicians, filmmakers and photographers all together doing activities and connecting each other. We were hosted by Zeljou foundation in the centre of the Medina inside a restored riad, a traditional moroccan building. Inside this building there are a lot of wall paintings made by artists who visited the city and there’s a big balcony where you can see the city from above. I’ve been a participant to others Erasmus + projects but this one was particular because it was a kind of art residency: everybody was selected by a team for their own skills in dance, music, filmmaking or photography. Everyday we did training sessions working in three different teams, sharing ideas about the final performance. Indeed we exhibited around the streets of Larache dancing and singing, showing to the citizens the results of our project. We were invited to perform in the theatre of the city in front of many people who were interested in our performance.

I partecipated to this project as a photographer and it was such an emotion discovering of being selected by the main team. I brought my camera and I took a lot of pictures during the rehearsals, studying dancers’ moves through the lens. This experience gave me the opportunity to explore new parts of myself, listening to other photographers giving me advice and sharing new ideas, but also it was a great opportunity in discovering new things in dance movements and music instruments. During lunch time we were always together, tired from the rehearsals but satisfied for our effort in doing something we believe in. One of the best moments to me was when we made a meditation session the last day with the project coordinator, where we sat on the floor in a small room, and we meditated for half an hour hearing each other breath. At the end I opened my eyes and I felt so in peace with myself. Staying together and sharing such an intimate moment with people I knew a week before made me think that we are social animals, we need to feel connections and this kind of project has been the perfect occasion. I’m still in contact with a a lot of people I knew there, we’re friends and we’re arranging new artistic projects together. There’s a piece of me in Larache now.