This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Catalpa (talk | contribs) at 19:11, 17 May 2006 (replaced picture/ as it is only book by Hamri and show Boujeloud/Pan). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 19:11, 17 May 2006 by Catalpa (talk | contribs) (replaced picture/ as it is only book by Hamri and show Boujeloud/Pan)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Mohamed Hamri (1933-2000) was a Moroccan painter and one of the few Moroccans to participate in the Tangier and Beat generation scenes as an equal. He was born in 1932 in the northern Moroccan town of Ksar El Kebir, the nearest town to Jajouka, at the southern end of the Rif Mountains. His father was a ceramics artist who painted his pieces following an ancient tradition. Hamri's mother was born into a family of Jajouka musicians. Hamri attended school for a short time but disliked it. Whenever Hamri ran away from school he went to his uncle's house in Jajouka. His uncle was the leader of the musicians there and the music of Jajouka had a strong effect on Hamri. As a boy he often danced as Bou Jeloud in a costume sewn from goatskins.
After World War II, life in Jajouka was very difficult as there was very little food available. Hamri helped the musicians avoid this famine by bringing them to Tangier to play. One day, when Hamri was fifteen years old, he was killing time outside the train station in Tangier by drawing in the dust on the ground.
The following year he befriended the Canadian painter Brion Gysin, who became his mentor. They had a joint exhibition in 1952 where Hamri sold all his works and Gysin sold none. Gysin was introduced to the music of Hamri's mother's village Joujouka and became a life-long promoter of the Sufi trance master musicians who lived there. Together with Gysin he set up the 1001 Nights Restaurant in Tangier and employed the Master Musicians of Jajouka to play there.
In 1968 he brought The Rolling Stones' Brian Jones to Jajouka to record. The resulting LP, Brian Jones presents the Pipes of Pan at Jajouka, was released on Rolling Stones Records in 1971. In 1972 he arranged Ornette Coleman's visit to Jajouka, and the collaboration between Coleman, local musicians, and journalist/musician Robert Palmer was recorded for Coleman's Dancing in Your Head LP, on which it appears as the track "Midnight Sunrise." From 1974-79 Hamri lived and painted in Los Angeles. In 1975 his book Tales of Jajouka was published by Capra Press in Santa Barbara. From 1980 onwards, he divided his time between Tangier and Jajouka.
He had over fifty exhibitions of his paintings in Morocco, Spain, Germany, the United States, and Ireland. Hamri continued to promote the music of Jajouka until his death in August 2000. He is buried in the centre of the village, close to the tomb of Sidi Achmed Sheich.
His posthumous reputation as a painter is growing, and a recent retrospective was held at the Laurence-Arnott Gallery in Tangier. Daughter Sanaa Hamri is a movie director.
See also
External links
- Master Musicians of Joujouka Official Joujouka/Hamri site.