Tangier

Tangier, or Tangiers (Tanja طنچة in Berber and Arabic, Tánger in Spanish, and Tanger in French), is a city of northern Morocco with a population of 350,000, or 550,000 including suburbs. It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cap Spartel.

Culture

The multicultural placement of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities and the foreign immigrants attracted artists like Paul Bowles, William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Tennessee Williams, Brion Gysin, the Rolling Stones, and collector Jim Ede who all lived in Tangier.

Related Topics:
Muslim - Christian - Jewish - Paul Bowles - William S. Burroughs - Jack Kerouac - Tennessee Williams - Brion Gysin - Rolling Stones - Jim Ede

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It was after Delacroix that Tangier became an obligatory stop for artists seeking to experience the colors and light he spoke of for themselves - with varying results.

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Matisse made several sojourns in Tangier, always staying at the Hotel Villa de France. You can still visit his room where he painted the view out the window. "I have found landscapes in Morocco," he claimed, "exactly as they are described in Delacroix's paintings." The Californian artist Richard Diebenkorn was directly influenced by the haunting colors and rhythmic patterns of Matisse?s Morocco paintings.

Related Topics:
Matisse - Richard Diebenkorn

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Tangier also knew the rise of native authors such as Mohamed Choukri who is considered as one of North Africa's most controversial and widely read authors. Paul Bowles collaborated closely with Choukri on the translation and wrote the introduction for Choukri's autobiography For Bread Alone, described by Tennessee Williams as 'A true document of human desperation, shattering in its impact.'

Related Topics:
Mohamed Choukri - Paul Bowles - Tennessee Williams

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In the forties and fifties, when the city was an International Zone, and apart from the artists, it served as a playground for eccentric millionaires, a meeting place for secret agents and all kinds of crooks, a Mecca for speculators and gamblers, an Eldorado for the fun-loving "Haute Volée".

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William S. Burroughs wrote Naked Lunch in Tangier in the 1950s and the book's locale of Interzone is an allusion to the city.

Related Topics:
William S. Burroughs - Naked Lunch - 1950 - Interzone

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As a great collector of lead soldiers, the American billionaire and publisher of Forbes magazine Malcolm Forbes brought together a total of 115,000 models to what is now called the "Forbes Museum" in Tangier. These figures re-enact the major battles of history; from Waterloo to Dien Bien Phû, realistically recreated with lighting and sound effects. Entire armies stand on guard in the showcases, while in the garden, 600 statuettes bear silent homage to the Battle of Three Kings.

Related Topics:
Forbes magazine - Malcolm Forbes - Waterloo - Dien Bien Phû - Sound effects - Battle of Three Kings

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