Journey into Barbary

Book excerpt: Through the eyes of a creative genius, Journey into Barbary is both an inimitable portrait of Morocco and one of the first truly modern accounts of a country that had for so long remained an enigma to generations of travellers. In the spring and summer of 1931, Wyndham Lewis travelled to the westernmost part of the Berber heartland in Morocco, known traditionally as 'Barbary'. Wanting to avoid what he called 'the Baedekered blight' of Anglo-American tourism, he set out for the majestic High Atlas mountains with pens and watercolours to record, in words and images, the rich traditional culture and changing face of the wild, isolated Berber tribes who carved a harsh life out of Morocco's remotest regions. The result is a blend of two arts, the literary skill of a detached and humorous observer, mixed with the drawings of one of the 20th century's most exciting and original artists.