Hshouma in Morocco is a taboo, something we should not talk about. While walking on the streets in Casablanca and other cities, you can hear “khoya, hshouma!” (lit. “shame, bro”) when a guy does something embarassing or not socially accepted.
There are hundreds of other examples when the word hshouma can be heard and used. Having lived in Morocco for a couple of years, I’ve noticed that it plays a big role in the society and is a very interesting thing in itself.
I’ve been meaning to write about it for a long, long time but somehow always lacked time or inspiration to pour my thoughts on WordPress page ;)
The motivation came back when I saw a friend of mine launching her Hshouma project….
Breaking the taboos
A friend of mine, Zainab Fasiki is a Moroccan artist whose art is all about the controversial issues in the Moroccan society and in the world. Her new project, Hshouma aims at breaking the taboos and speaking out loud about the “dicfficult” and “embarassing” subjects.
Among the taboos that Zainab wishes to break are: gender, sexual education, body, violence, freedom and discrimination.
[ctt template=”5″ link=”wa75_” via=”yes” ]Breaking the taboos – Hshouma project by Zainab Fasiki[/ctt]
What is the project Hshouma ?
Hshouma is a project created by the Moroccan artist Zainab Fasiki, and developed during El Ranchito, an art residency programme in Matadero (Madrid,Spain) from 21 May to 28 Juin 2018. El Ranchito is a collaboration between Queens Collective (Marrakech,Morocco) and Matadero (Madrid,Spain).
The word hshouma means in Moroccan dialect a taboo that we should not talk about with others, in Moroccan society there are many taboos in different domains that can not be discussed with family or at school. This lack of communication about taboos leads to many social problems, such as learning wrong informations about serious topics that need professional educational programs.
As a result of the El Ranchito residency, this web site was made in order to explain all Moroccan taboos through illustrations, comics, articles, videos and events. And the visitors can be part of its content.
Hshouma is a free educational platform that aims to aware kids, teenagers and adults in Morocco about breaking the taboos. It has also social media accounts in order to aware its followers about it.
If you’re interested in art, human rights, fighting against sexual harrassment, taboos – check out Zainab’s website and Facebook page: Hshouma and Zainab Fasiki Art
You can follow her on Instagram too:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkoH1iHDMW3/?taken-by=zainab_fasiki