"When man & mountains meet" (2013) Bougoumez Valley, Morocco

For a while I have been wanting to make a performance with my audio-system in a mountainous area. Bougoumez Valley is situated in the High Atlas of Morocco. We moved through the valley from village to village and stayed in gîtes which are family run shelters or homes. The landscape is believed to be formed within the Mesozoic era and succeeded my expectations of how majestic the mountain range is.

A mountain can be considered a sacred place and has something mystical and magical. But at the same time I found out that the higher part of the mountain is occasionally used as a toilet and to dump the village garbage and/or burn it. The reason, because it is furthest away from the river or streams which local people also use as drinking water.

During the walking trips through the valley I found different objects to construct my pre-historic mountain instrument (piece of wood, metal wire, tin sardine can, nail, elastic and metal strap) to use with my autonomous portable audio-system.

















When I went up a hill to look for the spot to perform I came across my potential cardboard speaker box. By being on top of a hill I also had a broader perception of the sound environment. I was enveloped by the surrounding sounds coming from within the valley, echoing as they were bouncing of the mountain sides traveling upwards.

















When I found the right spot I fixed the speaker and connected my system.

















Now I was ready to perform my mountain song!