EYES WIDE SOUK By PZ Opassuksatit and Talel

Featuring Aziza Hababi ﺣﺑﺎﺑﻲ ﻋزﯾزة, Khalid Mhicher ﺧﺎﻟد ﻣﺣﯾﺷر, Karima Moulat Lhenna ﻛرﯾﻣﺔ ﻣوﻻت اﻟﺣﻧﺔ, Nour Eddine Ennouiti ﻧور اﻟدﯾن اﻟﻧوﯾﺗﻲ

During Paris Fashion Week, we stepped inside Eyes Wide Souk, an immersive installation by photographer and researcher PZ Opassuksatit, commissioned by TALEL. Marking the launch of TALEL's new cultural programme, the project looked beyond the spectacle of Marrakech's souks to focus on the people, gestures, and forms of invisible labour that sustain everyday life. Built around a series of simple yet profound questions: What is your job? Who taught you? What do you carry every day? What drives you to wake up every morning? What is your Morocco?

The exhibition unfolded through photography, moving image, interviews, collected objects, and installation. From hands folding msemen before sunrise and fading henna patterns to the delicate choreography between snake charmers and spectators, each work revealed the quiet rituals that shape daily life. Eyes Wide Souk is not a portrait of Marrakech, but an invitation to look more closely at the knowledge, care, and repetition woven into its everyday rhythms.

Field notes:

Chapter 1 | AZIZA, The Nurturer

 

Every morning at 5 am, Aziza wakes before the city to prepare msemen and harcha.

Students. Parents. Shopkeepers. Office workers. Travellers. Neighbours.

Everyone comes for her msemen.

"If thereisn't msemen, there's nothing," she laughs.

She makes 150-200 msemmen every day. Each one can take up to three minutes.

When we asked what drives her to wake up every morning, she simply said:

«Al Hamdoullilah. When customers come back and tell me these are the best msemmen they’ve eaten in Marrakech, that makes me proud. I have my children with me, and that’s the most important thing.»

And «If there were no mnsemmen tomorrow?»

She paused. Then she smiled. «I love cooking.»

Maybe lentils. Maybe beans. Maybe something else.

The recipe could change.

The act of nourishing others would not.

To every nurturer in every neighbourhood, thank you.