Why Morocco

To support Why Morocco, please consider buying me a coffee nouss nouss.

For this week’s episode,I chatted with architect Aziza Chaouni in her Toronto office by telephone. I first learned about Aziza and her work when she was featured in Brownbook magazine, a publication I used to write for. I knew immediately that I needed to meet her given that we have swapped home countries. Aziza lives between Toronto, Canada where she works as an architect but is also a tenured professor at the university of Toronto and Fez, Morocco where her architecture firm is located.

But it was after a recent feature in the New York Times about the Sidi Harazem thermal baths restoration project that I finally reached out to Aziza. The thermal baths, near Fez, not only have healing properties, but the complex that Jean-Francois Zevaco designed in 1960 is done in brutalism style. Her credits also include transforming a slaughterhouse in Casablanca in to a cultural space, working on the restoration of the oldest existing university in the world – al-Qarawiyyin University in Fez and more. In fact, in the interview she shares details about a project she’s wrapping up in southern Morocco this month.

Listen in as Aziza talks about post-independence architecture, her past and on-going projects, the role of the architect and the state of architecture in Morocco.

Find out more about Aziza Chaouni Project: http://www.azizachaouniprojects.com/.

To support Why Morocco, please consider buying me a coffee nouss nouss.

For more Morocco ideas and advise, follow me on Instagram at @ms.mandy.sinclair

My other projects include:

• Travel and public relations consulting at Mandy Sinclair PR
• Freelance writing for print and digital mandyinmorocco.com/freelance-writing/
• Tasting Marrakech food and cultural tours in Marrakech tasting-marrakech.com

To support Why Morocco, please consider buying me a coffee nouss nouss.

With the third edition of the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair kicking off on 20 February 2020 in Marrakech, I chatted with fair founder Touria el Glaoui by telephone in the lead up to the event. The fair is designed to provide exposure to artists from the 54 countries that make up the continent. Touria talked about the changing landscape and dialogue surrounding African contemporary art since she began researching the idea for an African contemporary art fair about ten years ago. Touria launched the first 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in in London in 2013 before travelling to New York in 2015 and finally to Marrakech in 2018. And today, the fair is one of the highlights of my social calendar each year.

With galleries openings, studio visits, talks and roundtables, and meetings with artists planned throughout the four-day event, the programme is rich!

Listen is as Touria talks about the fair, the contemporary art industry, and what visitors can expect during the third edition of the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair.

To support Why Morocco, please consider buying me a coffee nouss nouss.

For more Morocco ideas and advise, follow me on Instagram at @ms.mandy.sinclair

My other projects include:

• Travel and public relations consulting at Mandy Sinclair PR
• Freelance writing for print and digital mandyinmorocco.com/freelance-writing/
• Tasting Marrakech food and cultural tours in Marrakech tasting-marrakech.com

To support Why Morocco, please consider buying me a coffee nouss nouss.

For this week’s episode I travelled to Casablanca to meet Justina Tulloch, the Aussie and one half of the duo behind Bondi Coffee Kitchen. A little known secret – I was terrified of Casablanca for years, but when this restaurant opened in 2015 I knew I needed not only a flat white, but to give the city a second chance. So I finally did in 2016 and I stopped by Bondi Coffee Kitchen for lunch. Justina, along with her husband Aziz Mrabet, have created a space with fresh eats and some of the best coffee in town. But on the podcast she also talks about launching a concept that was quite new in the city at the time of opening. And as residents of this coastal town, Justina shared some of her tips to dispel rumours that there is nothing to do in Casablanca except visit the famous mosque.

Listen in as Justina talks about setting up the restaurant, the philosophy and concept behind Bondi Coffee Kitchen and why you need to add Casablanca to your Morocco itinerary.

To support Why Morocco, please consider buying me a coffee nouss nouss.

For more Morocco ideas and advise, follow me on Instagram at @ms.mandy.sinclair

My other projects include:

• Travel and public relations consulting at Mandy Sinclair PR
• Freelance writing for print and digital mandyinmorocco.com/freelance-writing/
• Tasting Marrakech food and cultural tours in Marrakech tasting-marrakech.com

To support Why Morocco, please consider buying me a coffee nouss nouss.

This week I’ve stepped out of the studio and sat oceanside with Shiraz Ksaiba, a London girl and creative I met while working together on the launch of her yoga retreat centre Tamazirt by Amayour near Taghazout in Morocco. Shiraz and I share a similar journey in how we ended up in Morocco. We both came out on solo holidays before eventually returning and setting up our own businesses.

As a former photographer and director of photographer in London, Shiraz has a real knack for designing beautiful spaces and attracting a cool clientele. Her first project, Amayour Surf is a top hostel in Taghazout and she’s known for the octopus tajine she serves guests on their picture-perfect rooftop terrace. Then last year she created one of my absolute favourite spaces in Morocco – Tamazirt by Amayour, a dedicated yoga retreat centre in the rolling Anti-Atlas Mountains with views of the Atlantic Ocean. I attended in as many yoga retreats my schedule would allow for and loved wandering through the argan forest that surround the house and meeting other creatives in between yoga classes in the rooftop shala.

Listen in as Shiraz talks about leaving her London life behind to live her dream in Taghazout, near Agadir.

Find out more about Tamazirt by Amayour yoga retreat centre and Amayour Surf hostel.

To support Why Morocco, please consider buying me a coffee nouss nouss.

For more Morocco ideas and advise, follow me on Instagram at @ms.mandy.sinclair

My other projects include:

• Travel and public relations consulting at Mandy Sinclair PR
• Freelance writing for print and digital mandyinmorocco.com/freelance-writing/
• Tasting Marrakech food and cultural tours in Marrakech tasting-marrakech.com

To support Why Morocco, please consider buying me a coffee nouss nouss.

For final episode of Why Morocco’s second season, I chatted with one of the people I’m checking in with weekly and that person is my life coach, Ray Beach from Drift and Design. I credit her and our weekly coaching sessions for helping me to live my best life in Marrakech, Morocco. Ray and I have been working together for over a year during which time she has coached me through various exercises and techniques to help bring balance to my life, but also move forward ideas and work through personal issues.

When I sat down to record this episode, I wanted this to be an honest and open conversation between Ray and I to let listeners know that others may also be struggling, despite putting on a strong front.

But what I want listeners to know that I believe that coaching or any other one to one development work such as counselling, therapy or mentoring are personal decisions and may even require professional advise. So while life coaching has worked for me and some of the exercises can, as Ray says in the interview, be used in group or organisational settings, I think each of us are unique. So it’s about finding what works for us, when the time is right.

Listen in as Ray and I chat about her approach to coaching and what exercises I’m working on to help me through these unexpected and unknown times.

To get in touch with Ray, email her at [email protected]

To support Why Morocco, please consider buying me a coffee nouss nouss.

For more Morocco ideas and advise, follow me on Instagram at @ms.mandy.sinclair

My other projects include:

• Travel and public relations consulting at Mandy Sinclair PR
• Freelance writing for print and digital mandyinmorocco.com/freelance-writing/
• Tasting Marrakech food and cultural tours in Marrakech tasting-marrakech.com