Tales Of Moroccan Amazons

Morocco · 2014-2015
Project supported by AFAC, The Magnum Foundation and the Prince Claus Fund.

 

« The horse is part of our family, our culture, and our civilization. » His Majesty King Hassan II

Tales of Moroccan Amazons is a long-term photographic project begun in 2014,
following one of Morocco’s pioneering female Tbourida troupes.

Between dust, prayer, horses, gunpowder and ritual, the series moves from the intimacy
of preparation to the intensity of the arena. It portrays women whose relationship
to Tbourida is shaped by passion, discipline, family transmission
and the bonds they build with one another and with their horses.

Combining documentary photography with medium-format Hasselblad portraits,
the project explores the space between spectacle and private experience,
tradition and change, strength and vulnerability.

These women do not simply enter an equestrian tradition.
They live it, preserve it and transform it from within. 

Traditionally associated with men,
Tbourida draws on Morocco’s equestrian and martial heritage.
These riders challenge an inherited division without rejecting the tradition itself.
Their presence reshapes who may embody courage, authority and collective memory.

Beyond the public spectacle, the photographs reveal a more intimate world.
Gestures, clothing and moments of preparation show the discipline behind each appearance in the arena.
They also evoke friendship, trust and the quiet determination required to claim a place.

The riders are not presented as exceptions within Moroccan culture.
They are active participants in a living tradition that continues to evolve.
Their experience raises broader questions about visibility, belonging and transmission.
It shows how women can inhabit inherited customs while transforming their meaning from within.

Tales of Moroccan Amazons is therefore not only a story about equestrian performance.
It is a story about presence, recognition and the possibility of carrying a cultural legacy forward
without leaving women outside its history.

Bouchra, riding her arab-Barb horse, leads Farisat Al Hawziya, one of the few female Tbourida troupes in Morocco. An experienced rider, she learned the tradition from her grandfather and father,who both led a male troupe.
Members of Farisat Al Hawzia gather before a training session at their leader’s farm, a few kilometres from Rabat. In Tbourida, a troupe is known as a sorba and is led by a moqaddem—or moqaddema in the case of a woman. Traditionally, a sorba is composed of an odd number of riders.
Tbourida is performed with rifles loaded with black powder but no projectiles, for safety reasons.
The Farisat Al Hawziya troupe waits for its turn at the starting line during a moussem. It is the only female troupe taking part in the event.
A rider holds her rifle besides a counterfeit Louis Vuitton bag during a Tbourida gathering. The juxtaposition of the weapon, the fashion accessory and the brightly coloured riding clothes reveals the unexpected contrasts that shape the women's presence within the tradition
Chikhates are professional performers who sing and dance alongside male musicians during Moroccan celebrations and moussems. Their expressive performances combine rhythmic body movements, hip movements and sweeping gestures of the hair. Historically admired as performers yet socially stigmatized, they occupy an ambivalent place in Moroccan society. Male riders sometimes approach the stage and dance on horseback between Tbourida runs.
A rider from Farisat Al Hawziya moves through the gathering among male Tbourida riders.
Shaimae, 19, is a member of the all-female Farisat Al Hawziya troupe.
During the performance, the riders and their Arab-Barb horses gallop across the field in a perfectly aligned formation, evoking a charge against an imaginary enemy. As they reach the caidal tents, where the audience is predominantly male, they raise their rifles and fire simultaneously. Throughout the run, the riders must remain perfectly synchronized and produce what sounds like a single collective detonation.
Before a training, a part of the troop Farisat El Hawziya in the farm's chief (in red on the photo) a few kilometers away from Rabat; A troop of Fantasia is called Sorba, their chief Mqadem(a) and their number is always odd.
Members of Farisat Al Hawzia share a playful moment before training. “Our troupe is like a second family,” one of the riders says.
In Bouchra’s room, a portrait of the late King Hassan II on an Arabian horse rests against the wall. The king was known for his passion for horses. “The horse is part of our family, our culture and our civilization.” — King Hassan II