I Came For Couscous is an independent magazine highlighting unique voices and creative minds from Arab cultures and backgrounds. Interweaving pluralistic individual narratives, the magazine champions the values of multiculturality and otherness for connected and curious readers who explore the world around them with engagement and freedom.

ISSUE 04, AW 23/24

Act One: A cross-examination of Lebanese composer, writer and performer Hamed Sinno and Moroccan writer and filmmaker Abdellah Taïa ; The myriad answers to the question "What does being Arab mean to you?" from a non-Arab point of view.

Act Two: In the second act we go to a garden overlooking the sea, where Umberto Pasti's determination, combined with the help of local villagers, (re)creates ancestral ties while protecting the biosphere; Ismail Zaidy's photographs conjure up the intimate dance between desires for connection, states of deadlock and tipping points; Rehab Eldalil and the Bedouins of the South Sinai archive the medicinal powers of plants in their Flora Guide.

Act Three: an interview with Tatiana Fayad and Joanne Haye, the co-founders of Vanina, a brand making waves for its cutting-edge creations as well as its social conscience ; Whatever happened to the 109 dress? Announcement of the winners of the I CAME FOR COUSCOUS x Musée YVES SAINT LAURENT Marrakech Open Call.

Act Four: Mina Abouzahra opens up a dialogue between Dutch designers and Moroccan weavers aimed at preserving the ancestral feminine know-how expressed in the Amazigh carpet; vinyl records, cherished by a handful of diggers, musicians, producers and music lovers, bring 20th century Arab music back to the present day. 

Act Five: We sit down at the table of the Jewish-Arab diasporas and summon sensory memories of the ingredients, dishes, utensils or smells, as well as the rites and rituals surrounding them, which act as a link - sometimes the only one - to their North African and Arab roots.

MOUNIA AKL

The director of Costa Brava, Lebanon, interviewed by Lebanese journalist and writer Gilles Khoury.

TANGIER UNDER THE RAIN

Writer Abdelkader Benali & photographer Rachid Ouetassi for a poetic wander through a twilight Tangier.

GRAIN ON THE MOVE

Six chefs, couscous masters — Joumana Jacob, Harouna Sow, Youssef Gastli, Sami Tamimi, Abdel Alaoui, and Mareme Cissé —, share their recipes with journalist and writer Farah Keram as Dora Dalila Cheffi paints their portraits.

ICFCC SUBSCRIPTIONS

1 Year : 50 euros
2 Years : 100 euros

Previous issues :  ICFCC01 + ICFCC02 = 50 euros
ICFCC01 + ICFCC02 + ICFCC03 + ICFCC04 = 100 euros