Fantasia
Karim El Maktafi
Fantasia—the game of powder or “tborida” in Moroccan Arabic—stands for the breathtaking sport and equestrian art that has being practiced
in Morocco and other Maghreb countries since the 8th Century. It is a tribal, rural and religious tradition.
In Morocco it is practiced to celebrate moussems (festival of sowing, harvesting) and to celebrate a saint. It can be performed to maintain
the folklore or for tourism. It is an exhibition of mastery uniting the man and his horse. Riders dressed in wide trousers and djellabas immaculate, holding in their hands long guns directed towards the sky. Their horses are fitted with harnesses and colourful saddles.
The performance consists of a group of horse riders, who charge along
a straight path at the same speed to form a line. At the end of the charge (about two hundred meters) they fire into the sky using old muskets
or muzzle-loading rifles. The most difficult part of the performance is to synchronize the movement of the horses during their acceleration and to fire the guns simultaneously so that one single shot is heard. The horse is referred to as a fantasia horse and is of Arabian, Andalusian or Barb stock.
The term “fantasia” is of Latin origin, meaning “entertainment”, or Spanish- Italian meaning “fantasy”. In the Moroccan language, this word becomes Darija (moroccan arabic) and takes the meaning of “exposition”. This is because the tribes, according to their area, added games with the gun, acrobatics, colored outfits and beautiful parade harness.
Karim El Maktafi (Desenzano del Garda, 1992) is an Italian Moroccan photographer based in Milan. In 2013 he graduated at the Instituto Italiano di Fotografia in Milan. In 2016, he obtained a one-year scholarship at Fabrica, Benetton's communication research center in Treviso.
During his residency period, El Maktafi made the project Hayati and, one year later, won the PHMuseum 2017 Grant - New Generation Prize. With the same project, El Maktafi has been finalist of the CAP Prize 2017 (Contemporary African Photography prize) and second prize at the Kassel Dummy Award 2018. In 2017 he won a mentorship with the American photographer Maggie Steber (VII Agency), while in 2018 he gets the Magnum Photos scholarship with Alex Majoli.
Karim works on long-term projects between Italy and Morocco exploring concepts as identity and sense of belonging through documentary and portrait photography. His work has been exhibited at La Triennale Museum in Milan, Museum in Der Kulturbrauerei in Berlin, Pavillon Populaire in Montpellier, Macro Testaccio Museum in Rome and in other photography festivals in Europe, as well has been published, among others, on The Washington Post Magazine, National Geographic USA, Internazionale, Vice, GEO.
They call us second generation
I was born in Desenzano del Garda, in Italy, to Moroccan parents. Despite having attended Italian schools, during my childhood I also received a Moroccan education, as my family passed on to me lessons related to the traditions of our country of origin.
My friends are mostly Italian, I have the typical North Italian accent, outside of home I have always frequented places and people who have strengthened my identity as an Italian citizen, as I have become on paper at the age of fourteen. Yet in the eyes of many I am a foreigner.
A few years ago I started a photographic research that reflects and questions about the identity of second generations: the children of immigrants born and raised in Italy. I started from my story, trying to investigate my experience, but now I also want to hear the voices of those who, like me, live in the balance between two realities.
I started by meeting some second generation youths in the city where I currently live, Milan. In a historical moment in which the discussion on the Ius Soli seems to have been put on standby by the Italian political agenda, I want to show the life of those who every day come to terms with the absence of this law and the lucky few who manage to obtain citizenship only at 18 years.
Telling second generations means trying to understand the problems related to identity, and the difficulties that can arise between the family and the host culture. What is the vision of these guys about the future, about love, about friends, and about school?
It is not easy to give an answer, but I believe their stories and a visual investigation of their/our present, can give back to the spectators' eyes an honest image of those who, even amid difficulties and contradictions, have full right to be considered Italian citizens.
Searching for Heritage
Searching for Heritage started in 2015 as a visual research project on Moroccan youth, a demographic currently torn between the desire to blindly follow European trends and the pull of rediscovering and acknowledging the traditions passed down by the older generations. This discrepancy is also reflected in the environment and landscape around them, where a crude juxtaposition of big cities and dishevelled rural areas creates a contrasting tapestry.
Through this project, I set out to investigate my own roots through the faces and future prospects of younger Moroccans, portraying those that have a desire to emigrate to Europe in hope of better living conditions and those that instead prefer to stay and connect on a deeper level with their past, religion and family as elements of a collective identity.