FALLEN FAMILY KINGDOM

1/9 - FALLEN FAMILY KINGDOM

Since the early 1960s European industrial companies have recruited thousands of contract labourers from North African countries such as Morocco. A majority of the people originated from the heavily deprived Riff area that is characterized by dry mountains, poverty and harsh living circumstances. They were doomed to accept working for low wages, making long days in mining areas and various factories abroad. For many contract labourers this meant torn families and the acceptance of new living circumstances. This story is about one of those thousands of families that have dealt with these developments throughout time.

   2/9 - MOHAMED, THE GERMAN MINE WORKER

Mohamed is the eldest from a nest of five full blood brothers and sister.
After the death of my father we had lost touch for almost 10 years. The new home he had built in the Rif was new to me. Proudly he showed me around his corn fields, fig plants and herb plantation. In the 1960s he worked some years in a German mining area. The living circumstances abroad were bad and with home sickness biting, it was difficult for him to adjust. As a father of 9 it was unbearable to return empty handed to the Riff again. Many years of draught and poverty rose to the surface again.

3/9 - A LEADING LOCAL

After return It took a while before his eldest son was again old enough to work abroad in Germany.
Eventually it succeeded, as did building a new house nereby his father’s former family kingdom.
My uncle lives about 1,5 miles away from the property where he and my father grew up. As a local guide in the
Riff he took me back to my initial roots in the area of Al Hoceima, Rouadi.

4/9 - DEAD FIG TREES

After a 17 years leaf the family property had changed immensely from the way i remembered it. Nobody inhabited the area any longer and the fruitful land had not  been cultivated for years. Mohamed  shares that his spouse, offspring, mother and her remaining children  had lived there for decades by thriving off the land’s crops. Fruitful fig and olive trees surrounded by beautiful grape bushes kept them alive  during times of poverty in the area. However, the cultivated food was never enough to feed all mouths and more family members were set to escape such circumstances. Hoping to build a more sustainable future elsewhere they mostly moved abroad.

 

 5/9 - THE KING'S ROOM

The King's room used to offer a stay for Mohamed's  most prestigious family members and friends. In the  past it was also frequently used as a marital suite.  After multiple leakages Mohamed was  forced to move to the house his son built him 1, 5 miles away.  Last year he discovered there was a snake wandering through  the family property. With a stick he was able to lure him to  the King’s room, blocking it with a self-made hatch. The King’s  room has not been used ever since.

6/9 - ABANDONNED HOUSE 

The family property that had sheltered his family for decades was no longer good or big enough to house all its offspring. One by one the siblings started to detach from the Riff leaving Mohamed behind. After his return from Germany he was never completely able to leave the property behind. Even though the clay house's rooftop consisted of old tinnen plates to prevent from leaking, it always remained loved to him.

7/9 - VISITS & BITTERSWEET NOSTALGIA

Mohamed visits his fallen kingdom every other day. Looking out over the property he reminisces his childhood years.
The dead fig tree behind him symbolizes the days he used to be a shepherd boy, coming home hungry after a long day in the mountains. The once fruitful tree offered him many comfort in times when there was little to sooth the poor living circumstances.

8/9 CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

Mohamed also still takes pleasure in the crops that have remained on their property; the everlasting cactus plants. Proudly he shows  every visitor what his favourite shape of cactus fruit looked like when he was a child.

9/9 - BUILDING A NEW KINGDOM

After almost 70 years in the Riff Mohamed ls connected with the soil. His favourite crop in the Riff? The fig tree. He shared the fruits with pride. 'Have some – he said - it used to be one of your father’s favourites as well.’