2019 WWD - Regional Event in Morocco

Tetouan 2^nd International Symposium on Sculpture

Organized by the Adayday Association of Cultural, Artistic and Social Development, the 2nd International Symposium on Sculpture of Tetouan was held in Tetouan, Morocco from June 16th to 22nd. As one of the regional events of the 2019 World Wood Day, this symposium was supported by the World Wood Day Foundation (WWDF) and the International Wood Culture Society (IWCS).

Located in the northwest of Morocco, Tetouan is a historic city that was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. As the second event, the symposium not only continued its previous programs of woodcarving and stone carving, but also added a number of colorful on-site demonstration programs such as ironwork, clay, painting and mosaic collage art. In addition, the organizers also arranged some special activities such as the visit to traditional craft school, special education school, local traditional architectures and tree-planting.

More than 30 guests from 14 countries were invited to the Symposium. A Chinese delegation led by Ms. Su Jinling, Secretary General of the International Wood Culture Society, was invited to participate in this symposium, including Chinese woodcarvers, intangible cultural inheritor and scholars. 

7 wood artists, Xia Xilin and Chen Jianming from China, Didier Schauterden from Belgium, Pierre Boisse from France, Pavel Khatsilouski from Belarus, Mohammed Elaadi and Ismail Farhan from Morocco, participated in the woodcarving program. They selected their raw carving materials on the first day of the event. The materials provided by organizers were the common tree species of the Morocco, the Almond Tree and the Juniper.

The theme of the event is “The Earth”. During the four days of creation, all the artists have done their best to create art pieces that reflecting their different cultural backgrounds.

7 artists from Italy, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain participated in the stone carving program.

Nabeel Hashem Najdi, a national artist of Saudi Arabia, brought a live show of iron art. Artists from Morocco and Congo also performed iron art creations.

5 female artists from Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia demonstrated clay creations.

Moroccan famous artist Mohamed Bouzouba created a beautiful Impressionist oil painting, and local artist Mohamed Tarhouchi demonstrated mosaic collage art.
 

The event attracted many local residents and students of local schools to visit. The children were excited to touch and feel the art works. Surrounding warmly by kids, artists showed them the process of creation.
 

The event was also highly valued by the government of Tetouan City. Mayor of Tetouan, Mr. Idaomar Mohamed visited the event on June 19th. He watched each piece one by one and had cordial exchange with artists.

On June 21st, all the participants were invited by the Mayor to the Tetouan City Hall to attend a special reception meeting. On behalf of the International Wood Culture Society, Ms. Su Jinling expressed her gratitude to the government of the Tetouan City and event organizers and to the artists from 14 countries. She warmly welcomed all the participants to join 2020 World Wood Day in Japan next year.

Exhibition ribbon was cut by the Mayor of the Tetouan on the evening of June 21st. The artists presented their works and creative ideas to the audiences. The "The soul of the Earth" created by Chinese woodcarver Chen Jianming and Xia Xilin received high praise from various sectors.

Xia Xilin and Chen Jianming followed the natural shape of the raw material, adhered to the theme of the event - "The Earth", and conceived the creative direction of Taihu Lake stone. They thought that the subject not only close to the theme of the event, but also represent the culture and aesthetics of Chinese literati. It is the perfect combination of the East and West elements. They overcame many difficulties during the creative process, such as the insufficient of tools, and finally finished their art work.

A traditional Moroccan music performance kicked off the event closing ceremony. Mayor Idaomar Mohamed delivered his speech and presented awards to the invited guests together with Mr. Adayday Abdelhay, the president of the Adayday Association of Cultural, Artistic and Development. Mr. Abdelilah Afifi, Secretary General of the Communication Development Bureau of the Moroccan Ministry of Culture, attended the closing ceremony and exchanged warmly with the Chinese delegation.
 

Tree planting is an essential part of every World Wood Day event. All the participants were invited to plant 50 saplings of Plumbago Auriculata on the hills of the rural area of Tetouan, spreading love and hope on the beautiful land.
 

During the event, the organizers also arranged visits to the local wood crafts school and traditional textile school.

The participants were also invited to a local special education school in Tetouan, and brought a clay experience class to the children of the school. A pleasant music performance was given by the children, and fully touched heart of all the attendees.

During the eight-day event, the participants formed a deep friendship with each other. Although they speak different languages and with different cultural backgrounds, they shared tools together, learned from each other, and everyone benefited a lot.