The cultural event Children of Al-Andalus will take place from March 17th to 26th 2023 with a series of activities such as the exhibition Children of Al-Andalus, the private premiere of the documentary Children of Al-Andalus or a roundtable meeting.
The official poster.
Programme
- Friday March 17th
20:00 – 22:30 Inaguration of the exhibition Children of Al-Andalus in the Hotel Convento San Francisco de Vejer (C. Plazuela, s/n). Welcome cocktail.
- Saturday March 18th
17:30 Hotel Convento San Francisco. Private premiere of the documentary Children of Al-Andalus with the presence of the directors Hicham Ghalbane y Rick Leeuwestein. Get your invitation by mail at hijos@vejer.com
- Sunday March 19th
12:00 – 14:00 Hotel Convento San Francisco. Roundtable meeting.
500 Years Ago
In the Middle Ages, Spain and Portugal cherished a unique model of coexistence. Muslims, Jews and Christians could live together relatively in peace for eight centuries. A beautiful Andalusian culture developed in cities such as Córdoba, Toledo, Sevilla and Granada. Al-Andalus flourished as the intellectual, cultural and political center in the West. It was a glorious intellectual period for Judaism and Islam that ended tragically.
On January 2, 1492, the last Muslim city of Granada surrendered to the Catholic kings. This marked the end of Al-Andalus and the Islamic reign on the Iberian Peninsula. On March 31, Isabella and Ferdinand signed the Edict of Expulsion. All Jews in Spain were forced to convert to Catholicism or be expelled forever. They were given four months to leave Sepharad, the Hebrew name they had given to their land. Finally, between 1609 and 1614, the last remaining Muslims, known as Moriscos, were ordered to leave Spain.
Andalucian Muslims and Sephardic Jews built a new existence in North Africa. They brought new influences to Morocco and enriched the already existing traditions. The refugees from the Iberian Peninsula experienced similar feelings in exile and remembered their homeland, ancestors and history in a common way. Gradually, they integrated into Moroccan society while preserving their unique Andalusian culture, traditions and identity. Often they married within their own Andalucian communities formed in Morocco. Their heritage has been passed on from generation to generation.
To this day, the consciousness of their Andalucian identity has remained alive among their descendants. They are the Children of Al-Andalus. In recent years, Dutch friends Hicham Ghalbane (photography) and Rick Leeuwestein (stories) went in search of these descendants in Morocco. The two found more than forty Moroccan Andalusians whose thoughts and images are captured here.
