The Adventurers / Les Aventuriers:
A series of digital photographs (2012-13) taken amongst young migrants (mostly men) from Western and Central Africa in Rabat (Morocco) – in the peripheral neighbourhoods of Douar Hajja, Maadid, and Taqaddoum.
Since 2011, I have been conducting ethnographic research on (irregular) migration in Morocco, exploring issues such as uncertainty, hope, violence, activism, immobility, and illegality. In particular, I have focused on how young men articulate their dangerous journeys as a hopeful but uncertain quest - an "adventure" - where they must overcome deadly border regimes while searching for their lives ('chercher sa vie').
Academic publications from relevant research projects include :
2023 (with M. Palladino). '"Etre vraiment vrai": truth, in/visibility, and migration in Morocco'. Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power.
2019. ‘“Wasting mbeng ”: adventure and trust amongst sub-Saharan migrants in Morocco.’ Ethnos 84 (5), pp. 849–866
2019 (with L. Jeffery) 'Photographic encounters: creative engagement with migration in Morocco’. Crossings: Journal of Migration and Culture 10 (1), pp. 25–42.
2018. ‘“Fighting against clandestine migration”: sub-Saharan migrants’ political agency and uncertainty in Morocco.’ Political and Legal Anthropology Review, 41 (2), pp. 201–215.
Also, check out the Arts for Advocacy Project Website for resources and exhibition materials from two research projects on migration in Morocco with a focus on arts and creation.
