• My name is Aissa Joud. I was born in 1992 in a village near the town of Ouarzaz- ate. My father is a traditional artist, particularly talented in drawing and stone sculpture, and my mother is a seamstress with a high artistic taste, so it was in this simple artistic atmosphere that I grew up. Our house is the simplest and most ordinary place and I had a rather normal childhood… I went to school like the lucky ones in my village. 

I found the walls of the school sad. It suffocated me. I spent most of my time in my father’s workshop.

 My father noticed my interest in the creative thing and gave me a place to work and especially to exhibit my small works.I managed to sell my works to tourists for between 10 and 20 dirhams. Paying money for my drawings made me and my father proud. Great support and moral encouragement from the tourists who visit our little space.It gave me a strong motivation and moral boost to continue.

• 2005 – 2009:
  These four years represent a deci- sive phase for me: my first contact with the art preparatory school. My grades were brilliant, my simple drawings were always very different from those of my friends… and they often surprised my teacher.In high school, I joined the department of internal secondary education in the city of Ouarzazate, far from our vil- lage, 20 km away.

  My soul was dry and without contact with the creative world. No plastic arts ceremony. No cultural activities. Nothing but dry studies and material worries.Totally below my ambition to make an artistic career and outside my goal to study in a school of applied arts.

  The nearest such school was in Agadir.
  In any case, it was the only way for me to escape the ordeal of the “prison” school that I was attending!
  Despite the constraints of distance,
  I filled out my application to change direction, to leave my secondary school and join the School of Applied Arts, and I waited for the outcome of my application.

  Lists were announced.
  My name did not appear on any of the lists. I decided to try again in the second session, but without result.
  Art doesn’t want me, although it is my rea- son of existence. I felt it very strongly.

  I isolated myself completely and ran away from any contact with others… Demotivation, marginalization, … the drift was not far.

  I failed the baccalaureate twice and filled a file for the administration.
  I was refused a scholarship to go to boarding school and had to live there secretly, sharing a bed with one of my friends.
  This went on for a whole year…too long to endure…finally liberation came with my high school graduation. Phew…
  This marked a qualitative change in my life…
  The baccalaureate, this prestigious diploma, represents a decisive key to enter the circle of citizens who have the chance to hope. From that day on,
  I found confidence in society.
  I was encouraged.
  My abilities were more recognized.
  The following year, I wanted to study in a school that should be in my city because of the lack of opportunities to study in distant cities, and I found only the Center for Traditional Arts.
  It was the only school that offered some courses related to the artistic thing.
  I studied technical forging.
  I was very much appreciated and I took the first place.
  But I did not finish the second year despite my good performance. It’s because the center didn’t quench my thirst for art.
  I was not very interested in blacksmithing. However, I learned several techniques related to it.

• 2014: I entered the Cady Ayyad University in Marrakech,

  That is why I had the courage to confront the administration and the tenacity to demand an explanation from my officials. I discovered that two files were still in the administration’s office, and my files were not sent for processing under the pretext that there was no agent available to complete the file. What misery, what unconsciousness: the future of young people is being played with with impunity. That was one of the worst moments of my life, my destiny was badly shaped, because of the irresponsibility of a civil servant, I

  was forced to stay in high school for four years without art, depression invaded my being. Depression invaded my being.
  It lasted for many years.

  It really changed my lifestyle.
  My relationships with the people around me closed down.

  the Division of Philosophy which has a deep relationship with art.
  At the same time, I registered at the Insti- tute of Traditional Arts, division of artistic carpentry …But my dream was to go to

  the school of fine arts, something that was almost impossible.
  During the year, I learned about the exist- ence of an academy of traditional arts in Casablanca. A monthly scholarship was offered, enough to live in a big city like Casablanca.

• 2015 : Despite the difficulties and the many tests and steps to pass to be accept- ed, I dared to submit my application for the Academy of Traditional Arts in Casablanca. My knowledge of the field was rather meager, and I knew nothing about Arabic calligraphy, an essential subject in the cur- riculum.
  Luck was on my side: I succeeded.
  I studied for two years and thus enriched

  my knowledge and experience with new tech- niques and a different creative approach.
  This is how I participated in two exhibitions of Ara- bic calligraphy in the cities of Fez and Rabat.

  The opportunities that this diploma offers me do not meet my expectations. They take me away from my ambition to live my art fully. The public service is a prison for me. In spite of the opposition of my parents and my relatives, I remained obstinate and stubborn to want to devote myself totally to my art… I gathered my diplomas and my certificates in a file and I placed them in my parents’ room and I decided to start my life again from scratch…
  I want to achieve my dream no matter what the cost and sacrifice. But I know with certainty that one day I will achieve what I aspire to.
  I have rented a small store in the tourist area closest to our house in the nearby village called “Ait Ben Haddou”. I decided to start my real artistic life in this small studio.
  At the beginning, things were complicated.
  They got improved over time.

  My work won the admiration of many, which brought me sales and a relative improvement in my daily life.
  But my real lucky period was

  the month of April 2017, World Heritage month.
  This corresponds to a real turning point in my life.

  The association ARKANE was the crafts- man. It has brought to Ait Ben Haddou more than twenty artists from different parts of the world. It was an artistic resi- dence which was spread out over nearly 20 days.

  The members of Arkane discovered and appreciated my work exposed in my small store.

  But my real “lucky period” was
  the month of April 2017, month of the world heritage. This corresponds to a real turning point in my life.

  The association ARKANE was the craftsm“an. It has brought to Ait Ben Haddou more than twenty artists from different parts of the world. It was an artistic residence which was spread out over nearly 20 days.

  The members of Arkane discovered and appreciated my work exposed in my small store.

  They invited me to join their workshops to work together. I even created, for the first time, a large work.
  They liked my work.

  I worked with them in a purely artistic atmosphere, and it was a very good experience.

  I even participated in the exhibition that they had organized in partnership with the Royal Air Morocco.
  The exhibition took place and was a great suc- cess.

  My work was exhibited alongside the great artistic signatures.
  And then I was in Casablanca for six months on an artist’s residency, and I painted 40 paintings and exhibited for the first time in a professional gallery in Casablanca.

  With the presence of many people and the press, it was really extraordinary
  And that was the beginning of my professional artistic career…