Imane Guemssy
Imane Guemssy is a young musician originary from Casablanca. From an early age she developed a particular interest in gnawa music and now uses the rhythms and vocal lines which to create a contemporary repertoire. Thanks to a wild card from MetX, she formed the band Tsoukina in 2019 with a few other musicians.
Gnawa musician inspired by various traditions
Imane was already playing in some college bands when she starts participating spontaneously at gnawa ceremonies -or lila’s- in her birthplace Casablanca. Mâalems like Hmida Boussou or Mahmoud Guinea introduce her to these ceremonies, mainly frequented by male musicians. She learns to play the guembri, a traditional lute, and percussion instruments like krakeb and t’bel.
Imane was already playing in some college bands when she starts participating spontaneously at gnawa ceremonies -or lila’s- in her birthplace Casablanca. Mâalems like Hmida Boussou or Mahmoud Guinea introduce her to these ceremonies, mainly frequented by male musicians. She learns to play the guembri, a traditional lute, and percussion instruments like krakeb and t’bel.
Upon her arrival in Belgium in 2013, she joined the Karkaba Gnawa training project. This MetX project introduces Brussels adolescents and young adults to Gnawa music and culture. There she met Badr Derras, with whom she had already played in Morocco via mâalem Hmida Boussou, and the coordinators Mohamed Saïd Akasri and Driss Filali.
Inspired by all these different Gnawa masters and musical influences, she started working on traditional Gnawa songs herself. Thanks to a wild card from MetX, she created a contemporary repertoire with several other musicians in 2019 and they performed under the name Tsoukina.