FESTIVAL: It's our turn
By Abi Hopkins
My bags were packed and I was waiting to board the plane to Marrakech to take part in the 2019 Confluence ‘Visions and Stories Photography and Storytelling’ Festival. As the plane thundered down the runway, I sat back and allowed that familiar feeling of exhilaration of going back to Morocco, to wash over me. I thought back to all of the wonderful images that had been submitted by emerging young Moroccan photographers, some of which would feature in the festival as part of the ‘It’s Our Turn’ photography exhibition at Café Clock.
I was delighted to be heading back to participate in the festival and to work and spend time with the Confluence Family. The previous few days had been really busy dealing with the 200+ submissions, having discussions back and forth between Team UK and Team Morocco to choose the final images that would be featured in the exhibition and to make sure we had everything covered before the launch. With such a wonderfully diverse number of submissions, it gave us the opportunity to preview them, to appreciate the interpretations of the confluence themes and to acknowledge the gifted talent from within the country that was about to host the Confluence Festival.
Once we had arrived and settled into our beautiful home for the duration of the trip, it was a joy to meet up with members of the Confluence Family (both storytellers and photographers) and we celebrated new and existing friendships with a small gathering on the rooftop, the ideal location for late night chatting and laughter.
Over the coming days, the festival gathered momentum with a wonderful choice of storytelling and photography workshops. Local photographers and visitors learned the art of Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom with experts Ali and Anas. A fantastic portraiture photography workshop taught by Anas to a group of young, ambitious photographers also took place whilst a small group of us met in in Café Clock to start hanging the chosen photographs before the launch event.
The exhibition launched on the Saturday afternoon with sweet tea and pastries, courtesy of our friends at Café Clock and the place soon filled with the sounds of laughter and chatter of the invited photographers and their friends. It was a delight to meet and talk to everyone, to listen to their stories, to understand the challenges they face but importantly to appreciate and share their joy and success.
Photography as we know is a visual art but it has a wonderful way of drawing people together who have a common understanding and mutual respect for the creative process involved. There were photographers who had travelled across Morocco simply to be part of the festival and to justifiably, delight in seeing their framed images in the exhibition. The emerging talent within Morocco is powerful. It was truly uplifting and inspiring to be able to appreciate the creativity and determination to push boundaries, whilst appreciating and respecting the multifaceted nature of different cultures – a true moment of Confluence!
Image © Tonje Gulbaek Barstad
Image © Tonje Gulbaelk Barstad
Image © Mouad Rocker
Image © Abi Hopkins