Tangier 1940s & 50s

Tangier 1940s & 50s is a visual recollection of David Arditti’s childhood growing up in Morocco under colonial rule. The book is composed of a series of illustrated letters written to his friend and accomplice, Giorgio, and elegantly translated from French by Sarah Ardizzone.

Documenting the minute details so often lost to history, the book is laid out as a visual conversation. It is a personal story recollected by one friend for another about their childhood spent growing up in Tangier – a city at the intersection of Europe and North Africa, politically independent, but culturally diverse. Arditti’s descriptions of the characters and stories from that period bring focus onto the smallest and often most fascinating details of life in Tangier, whether it be an annotated map of his primary school’s playground or step-by-step instructions of how to prepare a prickly pear.