Artistry in Orbit – Alive in Tangier: Selections from the Paul Bowles Papers Supplement

The Bowleses artistic circles extended beyond the expatriate community. Paul Bowles met the Moroccan artist and storyteller Ahmed Yacoubi in Fez in 1947. As Paul’s interests turned toward preserving Moroccan culture, Yacoubi translated Moroccan Arabic stories for Bowles, traveled with him, and, with encouragement from the Bowleses, began developing his own visual art. Bowles later helped introduce Yacoubi's work to international audiences, including arranging exhibitions in the United States.

Artist and author Mohamed Hamri, born in the village of Jajouka in Northern Morocco into a family of artists and musicians, met Paul Bowles in Tangier in 1951. Hamri later met the artist Brion Gysin, who helped Hamri develop his painting technique and partnered with him to establish the 1001 Nights Restaurant in Tangier. There, the Master Musicians of Jajouka, a musician collective led by Hamri’s uncle, were hired to perform and attracted the attention of the passers-through, including Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones. Jones, in turn, recorded and produced the 1971 Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka which introduced the collective to an international audience. With the folding of the restaurant, Hamri continued his pursuit of a career in painting and exhibited in over fifty exhibitions internationally during his lifetime.

Ahmed Yacoubi. Photo-print of unidentified artwork, undated