As part of the 2024 Marrakech African Book Festival (FLAM), where philosopher Edgar Morin was the guest of honor, a compelling reading was featured as part of the program.

On February 8, during an evening event at the “Étoiles de Jamaâ-el-Fna” Cultural Center, La pêche du Jour, a text by writer Éric Fottorino, was brought to life in a live reading by Assaad Bouab and Hélène Hadjiyianni, with musical accompaniment by Mustapha Rihani. This performance offers a poignant reflection on the tragedy of migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea.

A powerful encounter that questions our relationship to indifference and responsibility.

A young woman with long dark hair, wearing a black jacket and a bright orange scarf, stands behind a podium at the African Book Festival in Marrakech, February 8-11, 2024. The podium features colorful geometric artwork, and there is a decorative wooden panel with a circular pattern to the left of her.
A stage with three speakers, two women and one man, addressing an audience at a cultural event. The backdrop features a large, colorful map of Taiwan with text in Chinese and English, and decorative panels on either side.
A man with shoulder-length hair and a beard, wearing a blue sweater, stands at a podium during the Festival du Livre Africain de Marrakech.

“A powerful moment last night at the first Nocturne of this year’s Marrakech African Book Festival. A staged reading of a dystopian text on the fate of migrants, a cynical, harrowing, stark and unflinching extrapolation of the tragedies unfolding in the Mediterranean, tragedies that risk becoming “ordinary.” A dehumanized future, emerging as the logical outcome of what we are witnessing today, compromises, hypocrisies, blind spots. An uncompromising text that unsettles, shakes, and forces us to confront the erosion of our sense of humanity in the face of the tens, hundreds, thousands of women, children, and men who drown in this sea at Europe’s doorstep. A demonstration of the logic of the absurd (or the absurdity of logic) taken to its extreme. Two actors delivering a performance of chilling restraint and precision. An audience captivated, and left reeling.”

— Karine Bertonnet - KB MEDIA AFRICA