Go back to another time and culture at the View from the Mellah: Imagining the Former Jewish Quarter of Fez, Morocco, at Cuesta College in SLO on April 18.
The talk will be given by art history and art appreciation Professor Michelle H. Craig at 3 p.m. in room 2608. She specializes in African and Islamic art histories and her fieldwork has been based in Morocco since 2006. Craig’s research examines the architecture and photographic representations of the mellah, the former Jewish quarter of Fez.
The mellah was inhabited by the 15th century, but its architecture largely dates to the 19th and 20th centuries, making an anomaly in a city praised for its medieval qualities. This presentation explores how mellah’s present form celebrates its Jewish past, reflects the failed experiments of French colonization, and partially meets the needs of its current Muslim inhabitants. Visit cuesta.edu for more information. Δ
This article appears in Apr 5-15, 2018.