When I visited Essaouira for the first time in July of this year (2012) together with my BWI/DAA collegue Jean-Yves, we fell in love with the town and its inhabitants almost immediately. Then we discovered its raw art -made mainly by self taught artists- and we knew we had to do something with it: the idea for Air/Port 2013 was born!
After our first 2 weeks in Essaouira in July and some time to reflect back in Belgium, Jean-Yves and I returned to Morocco in September, with the aim to talk about our concept to the local authorities, to figure out what they think about our plans. Never in a million years did we expect that their reactions would be so positive and heartfelt: everybody loves it! From the man in the street (or rather, the medina) to the Governor of the Province and the senior advisor to King Hassan, they all applauded the idea -they’re all very proud of their town and their artists- urged us to make our dream come true, offering us their assistance whenever we need it. So now we’re back home, in the rain and under the gray clouds, thinking back of Morocco, arranging meetings here in Belgium, writing budgets, looking for a good company to print our huge art flags…we can’t wait until it’s spring 2013 so we can return to Essaouira to starting building our exhibition! Meanwhile, please follow us on this blog, tell all your friends -and if you know any artists that might be good for Air/Port, please let us know by sending a mail to: ninette@beautywithoutirony.com