Never Forget You - Omri Ma Nensak
Gracia left Morocco in 1973 when she was around 50, to move to France. She didn’t go back to her country for nearly years 30 years, until my mother and I took her back to Meknes, her hometown. My grandfather Sam, who passed away before I was born, never went back to Morocco after leaving. Sam and Gracia were an iconic couple in the family. Known for their elegance and their modernity. Together, they represented a symbol of the Moroccan Jewish Golden Age.
Sam and Gracia on the rooftop.
During our trip to Meknes in 2003, we visited Gracia’s parents’ house, where another family had been living. While we were standing on the doorstep, a man in his 40s came to us and called Gracia by her young maiden name. He recognized her from before she got married, when he was still a kid. A few hours later, after getting back home, we realized that my Gracia was nowhere to be found. We went out to look for her and found her in the middle of the souq, chatting with everyone and eating fruits that vendors would give her. As an old lady, when she was walking in the crowded streets of Morocco, she kept saying in Arabic, “douz, douz.” (move, move) to everyone that was in her way.
Gracia and the boys.
Until her very last moments, and even with an advanced stage of Alzheimer's, she still remembered her favorite songs of Samy El Maghribi, Salim Halali, Lili Boniche and Reinette l’Oranaise. Gracia passed away on March 26th, 2019. ◆
Sam being elegant.
Anna is a French-Moroccan artist and graphic designer based in Paris, and mainly works around the notions of memory, spatial identity and land appropriation. Paying a special attention to the activist aspect of her work, she always ensures that her creations focus on social issues and thematics, and regularly engages with her cultural heritage. Contact Anna through: @roshbena on Instagram.