La Daqqa

© Sam O’Selmou

Abderrazzak Ben Moqaden

By the side of storytellers of the Jemaa el-Fna square, with their very original wording, master Ben Moqadem, alias Baba, used to represent the traditional and popular arts in Marrakech. The public of the city cherished him and his solemn gestures. When he presided the game and the final was proliferating, the public would look out for Baba’s famous white turban whose head movements would end up untying. No one knows whether he purposely dropped his head cover or if it would untie itself due to the movements. 

Today, his nephew and disciple Abderrazzak Ben Moqadem make sure to guard the familial tradition and resists the temptation of folklorizing the artform. He also adopted the name Baba and collaborates with El-Hadj Abdeslam and Bâ Jaddi, two masters, with an incontestable authority, who incarnate today the art of the daqqa in Marrakech. 


Available album : Sacred drums from Marrakesh