Gnaoua nos becos de Asilah
[By Samantha Zaza in Rabat, Morocco] Above is Hamide, a Gnaoua musician who zipped across our path on a bike, down one of Asilah’s narrow alleyways, sintir on his back. It was so quick that at first I wasn’t sure what I saw— a hunched figure in a striped djellaba with what looked like a guitar— but after […]
The Bilmawn
[By Samantha Zaza in Rabat, Morocco] We spent Eid al-Adha in Imlil last year, where an old Amazigh tradition still carries on during the days following the Eid. Thunderous drumming echoes through the valleys of the Atlas, and high on a hill one morning, we spied a group of young men dressed in various masks […]
Esboços de uma ilha das Canárias
[By Samantha Zaza in Rabat, Morocco] I haven’t posted in a long, long time. The transition to my new home in Morocco has been challenging, though things seem to be looking a bit better now. I miss Turkey, and I’ve developed an anxiety whenever I hear its name mentioned in the news. I haven’t been […]
Marhaba Marrocos!
[By Samantha Zaza from Rabat, Morocco] This is my first sketch from Morocco, my new home. I have left Istanbul, where I have spent the last nearly seven years of my life— and it feels quite strange. As I wander through the streets that sound and smell so different than what I know, I keep […]
Nepal
[by Samatha Zaza in Kathmandu] For six days I have been thinking of how best to write this post, as I am wrought with emotions of all sorts over the recent earthquake in Nepal. As some of you know, I started volunteering as an art teacher at Shree Mangal Dvip School for Himalayan Children (SMD) […]
The Barber
It was a damp grey day in Edirne, but there was a charming coffee shop that promised warmth and a hit of silty Turkish coffee. Edirne is the former capitol of the Ottoman Empire— before Constantinople was taken— and fortunately for me, it’s a quick two-and-a-half hour drive from my doorstep. This quiet city is […]
Carnets de Voyages em Toulouse
Há alguns meses, recebi um e-mail a perguntar se PeF e eu estaríamos interessados em mostrar os nossos esboços dos protestos de Istambul e dos Occupy Gezi numa exposição colectiva de carnets de voyages em Toulouse. Não parecia real no início, mas com o passar do tempo, apercebemo-nos que estava de facto a acontecer, e [...]
Hello again!
I’ve been hoarding my sketches for no particular reason, and haven’t shared any of them in a long, long time, but I plan to unload some on you now. I was travelling around southeastern Turkey near the Syrian border in April, and managed to convince an old gentleman to pose for me in a courtyard […]
Faces da Urfa
Right now I’m in Kathmandu with a very spotty Internet connection, so I hope this post goes through! These are portrait sketches of people who I met in Urfa, Turkey, back in May. I never got to share them, because the mass protests in Istanbul took precedence. I read that last night there were more […]
Unir, resistir
I drew the above sketch on Saturday, June 15— the day the police invaded Gezi Parkı. I had no idea this would be the last time I could sketch Gezi as it was; a peaceful, fun, creative place where people of all backgrounds came together to speak out against what they believe is wrong for […]