MARRAKESH AS A SYMBOL OF SPATIAL TRANSCENDENCE: SOFIA YABLONSKA VS ZINAIDA SEREBRYAKOVA

Abstract

The author of the article believes that Sofia Yablonska's travelogue “The Magic of Morocco” (1932), in the artistic expression of which pictorial semiotics is metaphorized, should be studied in creative tandem with Zinaida Serebryakova's Moroccan series of paintings. Such verbal-visual collaboration has other motivational factors. Born in Ukraine, both artists visited Marrakesh, where their African tour began, in 1928 and perceived its geographical and urban infrastructure, national types, cultural and religious traditions through an imagological lens.
In Marrakesh, whose name translates as “land of the Gods”, European travelers experience “intoxication” (S. Yablonska) and “intoxication” (Z. Serebryakova) from the initial “meeting with the Other” (A. Fіut). Endowed with transcendental conductivity, the toponymy of this city, which corresponds to the descriptions of hierophanies, motivates the mental stirrings, shocks and surprises modeled in the travelogue, as ecstatic practices of pagan, Christian and Buddhist traditions.
Stunned by the exotic colors of Marrakech, they capture the same locations: a panoramic view of the city against the backdrop of the Atlas Mountains; the central square of Jemaa el-Fna, which is perceived as theatergoers, sincerely enthralled by the staged attraction; reproduce a multicultural gallery (Arabs, Berbers, Negroes, “Senegalese”, “Sagarians”); local women are presented with special erotic sensuality.
The meeting with the oriental archaic of Marrakesh (wild, infantile, sexual) becomes a meeting with her subconscious, actualizes the psychoanalytical self-revelation of the photographer and the artist.