Mohamed Hamri
Mohamed Hamri
Background information
Born	1932
Origin	Joujouka or (Jajouka, Morocco
Died	2000
Genres	Sufi music
Occupations	Painter

Mohamed Hamri (1932 - 2000) commonly known as Hamri is a self-described Painter of Morocco.^[1] He was a Moroccan painter and author and one of the few Moroccans to participate in the Tangier Beat scene.^[2]

He was born in 1932 in Zahjouka—also spelled, Joujouka and Jajouka—a Moroccan village at the southern end of the Rif Mountains near Ksar-el-Kebir.^[3][4] His father was a ceramics artist who painted his pieces following an ancient tradition. Hamri's mother was born into the Attar family of Zahjouka musicians. His uncle was the leader of the Master Musicians of Joujouka.^[5]

Hamir is father to Sanaa Hamri, the first Moroccan woman to direct a Hollywood movie.

[edit] Career

Hamri helped the Master Musicians of Joujouka survive by bringing them to Tangier to play. In 1951, writer Paul Bowles, met the 18-year-old Hamri at Tanger train station. He later met the painter Brion Gysin—inventor of The Cut-up technique—who tutored him and introduced him to modern European painters. Gysin and Hamri had a joint exhibition in 1952. After Hamri introduced Gysin to the Zahjouka village, Gysin became a life-long promoter of the Sufi trance master musicians who lived there. Together with Gysin, Hamri set up the 1001 Nights Restaurant in Tangier and employed the Master Musicians of Joujouka to play there.^[6]. In 1958 Gysin bought out Hamri's interest in the restaurant for $10,000 but he soon lost the restaurant himself.^[7]. The master musicians were led at the time by Hamri's uncle Sherkin. He soon opened a new 1001 Nights in Asilah—40 km south of Tangier—where he first met Brian Jones and subsequently brought him to Zahjouka.^[8]

[edit] Meeting with Brian Jones

Rolling Stones lead guitarist Brian Jones met Hamri when he visited Morocco in 1967. They then developed a close friendship,^[8]. In 1968, Gysin and Hamri took Jones to the village to record the master musicians in the ground-breaking release Brian Jones Presents The Pipes Of Pan At Joujouka, whose original cover featured a painting of Jones and The Master Musicians of Joujouka by Hamri before a 1990s redesign.^{[citation needed] [9]}

In 1975 Hamri's book Tales of Joujouka, containing his tales from the village including The Legend of Boujeloud which tells the story of Boujeloud, the half-goat/half-man beast celebrated in the annual ritual was published by Capra Press in Santa Barbara.^[10]

Cover of Hamri's Tales of Joujouka, Capra Press, 1975 showing Boujeloud/Pan

From 1980 onwards, Hamri divided his time between Tangier and Zahjouka. After the death of Hadj Abdesalam Attar—one of the band members—in 1982, Attar's son Bachir Attar formed a group and broke away from the band to pursue a commercial career eventually recording with them as Master Musicians of Jajouka featuring Bachir Attar.^{[citation needed]} In a break from Morocco between 1974 and 1978 to pursue his painting career, Hamri published his Tales of Joujouka.

[edit] 1990s to 2000

On his return to Morocco Hamri built a new house in Zahjouka which became a place for the musicians. Using his reputation as an artist he invited them to shows when only he had been invited to exhibit as a painter. In 1991 he brought the group to Italy. In 1992, Hamri participated in The Here to Go Show in Dublin, Ireland. The show, a celebration of William Burroughs, Brion Gysin and the Tangier Beat Scene, was documented in the documentary Destroy all Rational Thought, directed by Joe Ambrose and Frank Rynne. In 1994 Hamri arranged for the Master Musicians of Joujouka the recording of their first CD only release Joujouka Black Eyes. The recording was produced by Frank Rynne under the supervision of Hamri.^[11]

Hamri had over fifty exhibitions of his paintings in Morocco, Spain,Lebanon, Canary Islands, Germany, United States, U.K and Ireland during his lifetime. ^[12]

He died in 2000 and is buried in the center of the village, close to the tomb of the local Muslim saint Sidi Ahmed Sheikh. A recent retrospective was held at the Laurence-Arnott Gallery in Tangier. A large collection of his 1950s paintings has recently been discovered in the United States.

[edit] Books

• Hamri is characterised as "Hamid" in Brion Gysin's novel The Process
• Tales of Joujouka is Hamri's stories from his Sufi village in Morocco.
• Man from Nowhere Storming the citadels of enlightenment with William Burroughs and Brion Gysin, by Ambrose, Rynne, Wison, features both information on and an article by Hamri.
• Clandermond, Andrew, MacCarthy Terence, Hamri the painter of Morocco , (Tangier,2004) Biography and reproductions of Hamri art

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Ambrose, Joe; Wilson, Terry; and Rynne, Frank (1992). Man from Nowhere: Storming the Citadels of Enlightenment With William Burroughs and Brion Gysin. Autonomedia. ISBN 0-9520217-0-6.
• Clandermond, Andrew and MacCarthy, Dr. Terence (2004). Hamri: The Painter of Morocco / Le Peintre du Maroc. Lawrence Arnott Art Gallery (Tangier). ISBN 0-9523838-6-1.
• Hamri, Mohamed (1975), Tales of Joujouka. Capra Press.
• Palmer, Robert (March 23, 1989). "Into the Mystic". Rolling Stone.
• Palmer, Robert (October 14, 1971). "Jajouka: Up the Mountain". Rolling Stone, p. 39–40.
• Palmer, Robert (June 11, 1992). "Up the Mountain". Rolling Stone, p. 42–43.
• Ranaldo, Lee (August 1996). "Into The Mystic". The Wire
• Strauss, Neil (October 12, 1995). "The Pop Life: To Save Jajouka, How About a Mercedes in the Village?". The New York Times.
• Brion Gysin biography. The Knitting Circle.

[edit] See also

• Tales of Joujouka
• Joujouka Black Eyes

[edit] External links

• Feature article "A Rolling Stone's Moroccan Odyssey" Frank Rynne writes on Hamri, Brian Jones, Brion Gysin and The Master Musicians of Joujouka, Irish Times, 22 July 2008
• Obituary of Hamri from The Independent (London, 19 Oct 2000) pdf download of original article at bottom of text.
• Master Musicians of Joujouka site
• Campion, Chris (August 1995). "Night Spirit Masters", "The Wire". Article about Hamri and the Joujouka/Jajouka musicians. Click link for article pdf
• The guiding influence of Hamri in Joujouka - The Lazarus Corporation (UK, Nov. 2007)
• Guardian article on Tangier and interview with Hamri's widow Blanca Hamri on meeting her husband 22 April 2008