Nebraska alumna Gwyneth Talley will discuss women participating in tbourida, a historically male-dominated Moroccan equestrian display, in a 3 p.m. Sept. 8 talk in Oldfather Hall, Room 638.
Tbourida, also known as fantasia, has roots in centuries-old cavalry maneuver historically unique to the Maghreb region of Morocco. It consists of a sorba, or group of six or more horse riders, that charges forward wearing traditional garb, armed with rifles and standing in stirrups. The sorba covers approximately 300 meters before stopping suddenly in a line and simultaneously firing the rifles into the air.
Only recently, men were the sole keepers of this equestrian tradition. However, a growing number of women are participating, resulting in an intersection between tradition versus modernity, gender and human-animal relationships.
In the talk, Talley will discuss how this change challenges Morocco’s male-dominated tradition, how women are changing the tradition and keeping it alive.
Talley is a 2013 graduate of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She is now pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of California at Los Angeles. She is a National Geographic Young Explorer and 2015-2016 U.S. Student Fulbright Grant recipient to Morocco, where she studied the traditional equestrian practice of the Moroccan gunpowder games and volunteered at the American Fondouk in Fes.
For more information about her work, click a link at right.
