Plastic is everywhere, and if you live in Marrakesh, you are constantly reminded of that fact. I don’t in fact think that Moroccans consume more plastic than elsewhere, but for some reason our trash is just more visible to us, it’s not all neatly hidden in landfills.
For me, plastic is just another thing on my list of things to feel guilty about. I always forget to take my shopping bags with me so I end up lugging things home in micas. On the rare occasion I refuse a plastic bag, the shopkeeper will get this amused look on his face . This unconventional foreigner is going to walk home with her loaves of bread all exposed to the elements and to people’s curious eyes. What a rebel. At home we have a special cupboard whose sole purpose is to house all the plastic bags we bring home.
So when I stumbled on an art show under the theme of MICA (plastic in Arabic) I was intrigued. I was walking in Casablanca, which is a highly unpleasant and yet energizing experience. I happened to walk by a place called Villa des Arts and dropped in to see what it was all about. Why am I bothering to blog about it? Well for one, I don’t get out to many art shows, so I found this inspirational in its pure playfulness and freedom of imagination. Granted I prefer classical beauty to this type of art show, it’s nonetheless creative and funky. This post fulfills the artsy cultural quota for this otherwise straight talking, plain Jane blog.
If you are an artist and you ever run out of inspiration, don’t panic! Grab the nearest thing to you: a flip-flop, some pencil shavings or a plastic bottle cap. Now multiply times a million. Voila! Instant art show!
If plastic could talk…it would be singing this ditty:
See above for instructions for instant art show. The commonplace item reproduced here for shock and awe effect is none other than tofita, the world’s cheapest candy (1 dirham or 10 cents will get you 10 of these). Don’t quite know how this relates to plastic, and I think I don’t want to know. 
As hard as I try to appreciate the random beauty of this, and not apply my bias against trash, I just can’t. Can you?
I do appreciate that someone took a fresh look at trash bags washed up on the beach, I really do. It’s still gross. I’ve walked on these beaches. My kids swim in this. 
Something else to discover:
Then again, maybe it’s all a matter of gaining the right perspective:
Feel free to share your own feelings on plastic, trash, art shows, art shows made of plastic trash, beaches, or gaining perspective, in the comments!
Life in Marrakesh 