1. Preface
In the summer of 2021 I spent almost one month in Morocco, the pandemic and the diplomatic relations between Spain and Morocco kept the Ceuta border closed, avoiding me to come to Tanger to attend the Youmein Festival that every year, since 2015, takes place the last week-end of July. The most important reason was not the event but the possibility of seeing friends from Tangier, Tetouan, Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech… This festival became a meeting point and I did not want to miss the opportunity to spend some time with friends I did not see from the beginning of the Covid-19. Some of these friends were Laila Hida and Farida Benlyazid, with whom I used to have lunch since I introduced them in 2018, during the 4th edition of Youmein. From the very first moment I knew they were going to like each other very well, given their way of being, the projects they run and their implications with their society. Since then, we always reserve a midday (among so many reunions) to see each other and chat. That year, Laila only stayed in Tanger for a couple of days because she had to go back to Marrakech to finish the preparations for her move. However, knowing that after Tangier I was going to visit some friends in other Moroccan cities, she asked me to pass through Marrakech because she wanted me to meet a friend of hers. As usual, she was not very explicit in her intentions.
One week later, I arrived in Marrakech and in addition to meeting with some friends, she took me to a plot in a village near the city for a possible architectural project her friend was thinking about. I realised then why she insisted me to come. During those days we had time to talk about many things, since LE 18 was closed for holidays and she did not have to deal with events or artists. One morning, after asking her what her next projects were, she told me, “it is not yet official so you cannot tell anybody. We have been selected to participate in the next edition of documenta in Kassel”. She mentioned the news as if it was just another invitation to participate in Europe, maybe she was just exhausted after a year of hard work, but in any case, I was so happy for her and the other members of LE 18, finally, after so many years of sacrifice and work they were going to be “rewarded”, with a participation in Kassel!
Credits texts, photos and drawings: Carlos Pérez Marín