Who is FRADIDA?
FRADIDA is a visual artist who translates her ideas into bright colours. She does not stick to one form, one colour or one story. After studying journalism, she started studying painting at the Luca School of Arts in Ghent.
She has already exhibited at the photography museum in Antwerp (FOMU) and at the Yongsan International Arts Festival in Seoul, South Korea.
FRADIDA's roots are in the Rif Mountains of Morocco.
FRADIDA has her say
My fondest memories of my grandmother are the sleepovers. She made the most delicious rfissa. Not with lentils and chicken, but with milk and butter. With henna-tinged hands, she baked fresh msemen (flat bread), without mittens or other protection from the large hot pan. I thought the henna protected her hands from the heat.
In 2011, I lost my grandmother, Allah Yerhamha (May Allah have mercy on her).
The series "YEMMA HAJJA" or "ⵢⴻⵎⵎⴰ ⵃⴰⵊⵊⴰ" tells the story of my lingering and incurable sense of loss in relation to my grandmother. It is an intimate look into my grieving process, but at the same time a universal story in which I celebrate my Amazigh roots. For our community in Europe, it is the norm to bury deceased relatives in Morocco. The journey to my grandmother's grave is a route followed by many. The fragile feeling of homesickness comes and goes, like the tide of the sea.
The days of one's life pass by like the beads of an Islamic rosary.
What is homesickness?
I differentiate between homesickness and nostalgia. Nostalgia is more positive; looking back at the past through rose-tinted glasses. When I think of homesickness, I tend to think of sadness, of loss, of something that will never come back.
