Goddess Party: Gods & Heroes in Morocco’s Jnane Tamsna Resort
Photos by Salaheddine Elbouaichi. Originally published in AphroChic magazine Issue 13, Fall 2023.
For her 30th birthday, Thaïs Sala wanted to do something special. The hotelier, who owns Jnane Tamsna, Morocco’s first Black-owned hotel, with her mother, Meryanne Loum-Martin, decided on an event that would bring all of her favorite people together to welcome in her third decade of life.
The five-day event in the Moroccan oasis of Palmeraie, involved music, costumes, fire breathers, stilt walkers and a stunning entrance on a palanquin by Thaïs, who is also a talented songstress.
Literally one of the most inspiring events we’ve seen this century, we were eager to sit down with Thaïs to learn about how this epic goddess event came to be.
AC: Tell us about yourself.
TS: I’m Thaïs Sala, 30 years old. I’m based in Marrakech but also call London and Montreal, home. I’m a singer / songwriter and cultural curator. I write music in English, French and Spanish (with more languages to come!). I also help run our family business, Jnane Tamsna, a farm-to-table boutique hotel and cultural space in Marrakech.
AC: We love the term “cultural curator.” How does culture fit into your work?
TS: I’m a sensitive, curious, and passion- ate being from a mix of cultures. My mother is French, of Senegalese/Guadeloupean origin, my father is American (Irish/Scottish), and I grew up between Morocco and the UK, and have lived in Ethiopia and Canada, as well. These heritages all feed my love for storytelling traditions and my commitment to community and family, which includes my blood relations and the souls who have joined my tribe over the years.
Gratitude is a practice for me, and it’s the theme of my next release, Toque del Sol, a summer vibe produced by Moroccan producer Reqteq. I’m committed to the cause of mental health awareness and I strive to use my platform to spread empathy and dismantle stigmas, to open a judgement-free conversation around these issues.
AC: Your 30th birthday party looks like the ultimate celebration. What does this particular milestone mean to you?
TS: Gods and Heroes was the theme I chose for the final and main night of my 30th birthday week. I knew getting everyone involved in putting costumes together would build excitement and, more importantly, work as a great ice breaker at the party, since so many of my friends had never met before. I don’t particular- ly attribute much meaning to age as a number, but I love any excuse to throw a good party! In the months leading up to turning 30, I found a deep sense of inner peace, acceptance, and an ability to better manage questions of ego and perspective, refining my understand- ing of purpose and focusing in on my dreams. A lot of this was achieved through “work on the self” I did through journaling, meditation, and with wonderful life coaches. Something I find wonderful is that, in my mind, this whole week of parties was about celebrating my tribe and how grateful I am for them and the roles they’ve all played in my life more than anything else.
AC: What was meaningful in having this group of people celebrate with you?
TS: Having lived in four countries across three continents, I knew I wanted all the people dear to me to come together for my 30th. People arrived in waves, over the course of three days, coming from Los Angeles, Stockholm, Montreal Dubai, and more. Over 40 countries were rep- resented in the guest list. This is very represen- tative of my life and diverse community, which transcends borders, boundaries, and back- grounds. It meant the world to me to have these different characters from different episodes and seasons of my life, all mingling in the same place. As beautiful as the decor and the costumes and the setting of Jnane Tamsna were, the defining factor of this party’s success was the energy. People connected and vibed on a truly deep level, and watching that synergy unfold and feeling that love is the greatest gift I could ever be given. Since the party ended they’ve been hanging out in their respective home cities — from London to Geneva to New York. It makes me so happy to have had new friendships be born at the party and then live on. If there’s only one reason I throw parties, then that is it.
AC: What was the menu for the night?
TS: The party actually started on Sunday and ended on Thursday evening — my actual birthday — so it was a real festival. There was a welcome evening party on Tuesday, the Gods and Heroes costume party on Wednesday, and a barbecue pool party on Thursday. I wanted to have people mingle as much as possible so we had a long cocktail with performances, including a stilt dancing troupe in incredibly colorful, extrav- agant costumes and an equestrian show of riders doing dressage whilst juggling fire. Dinner was a short two courses held at our iconic candlelit garden table. We had mini soups made from seasonal vegetables from our organic farm, bruschetta and tapenade and goat cheese with smoked trout on barley toast, along with traditional Moroccan briouates. For dinner, we had a deliciously tender boneless chicken with seasonal vegetables, followed by a crispy apple tarte with vanilla ice cream. My birthday cake was chocolate (of course). We ate a lot of chocolate that night. Botanical cocktails were served including a lavender gin fizz, a sage and chipotle margarita, a saffron whiskey sour and a verbena vodka gimlet. All were infused on-site, mainly using aromatic herbs from our organic garden.
AC: We recently listened to your song The Genie, with Moses Belanger. As a musician, how did music help complete the environment?
TS: I’m very passionate about experiencing music in live gigs, festivals or raves, so the music program was very important to me. The line up was amazing, and though I don’t really believe in coincidences anymore, there was a truly wonderful sense of serendipity for the event. The night before the Gods and Heroes party we had an “Oriental swag” party where everyone wore clothes inspired by Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. We had Senegalese food as a tribute to part of my origins, and the wonderful Guedra Guedra, an amazing Moroccan DJ, played an incredible couple of sets that had people vibing before during and after dinner. On the Gods and Heroes evening, Fadel Lahlou, of the electro-acoustic duo Sound of Mint, played a hypnotic set during the cocktail hour, on a part of our property that’s anchored by an old earth-built country house. Together with all the amazing costumes, it really felt like being transported to another time. Daqqa musicians, a traditional troupe that bursts into Moroccan parties with chants, percussion and horns, led us through the magical candlelit garden paths to the dinner table, with myself and four friends being carried in ornate palanquins, because why not? We don’t get many opportunities to get carried to dinner past our toddler years but I certainly recommend it. My dear friend and fantastic DJ, Edamame started off the dance floor with some soulful house music and by chance the iconic DJ Ali Schwarz, one half of Tiefschwarz — a monument of electronic music — was in Marrakech. I invited Ali to join through a common friend and he gifted us an incredible set. Afterward we had Nairo, who funnily enough I sat next to in class when I was 12. He was also in town and offered to play a set. It was an amazing afro-house vibe that kept everyone on the dance floor.
AC: Costuming was a big part of the night, and yours was beautiful. How did you choose yours and what did the theme mean to you?
TS: My costume was actually inspired by Yemoja — Yoruba orisha of the ocean and motherhood. I knew I wanted to be dressed in blue (my favorite color) and as a maternal person who likes to look after and nurture others, the motherhood aspect also seemed suitable. In high school I was a music/performing arts/theatre kid and I’ve always loved dressing up and getting into the skin of another character. I knew I wanted to throw an epic costume party, and as I was brainstorming about what the theme should be, I tried to think of something that would enable everyone to be as extra, flamboyant, and wild as possible, while still inspiring elegance and chic. Gods and Heroes was the obvious choice, both because it met the criteria of inspiring ex- traordinary costumes but also because, quite simply, my friends and family are gods and heroes to me. And man did my friends show up for the theme! Some people planned their costumes for months, others started just a couple days before, and everyone looked fabulous. We had gods and goddesses, heroes and sheroes from many different cultures and the props, headdresses, masks, make up, clothes, and colors were absolutely breathtaking. One friend dressed as Shiva, with foam arms attached to her sides with red gloves matching those on her actual hands.
I had so much fun designing my costume — from finding the perfect blue, to sourcing my cowrie jewelry in the souks of Marrakech, to making my crown out of a palm leaf, glued to a piece of card board and spray painted gold. I fastened the whole thing onto my head with a string. I’m very crafty and love to work with my hands, and making headpieces for myself, my brother, my dad, and a bunch of my friends was a huge part of the fun. The funny thing is that during the evening we shot a segment of an upcoming music video for a song I made with my music partner, the immensely talented house producer Moses Belanger. So I have had to recreate the costume about seven times since the party because we’ve continued shooting the video.
AC: The party was held at Jnane Tamsna, the sprawling, absolute- ly breathtaking resort that you and your mother run, which is also Morrocco’s first Black-owned hotel. Tell us about the journey to that amazing accomplishment, and why Jnane was the right place for your party.
TS: We run our business as a family. My mother Meryanne Loum-Martin, did all the architecture and interior design, and my father Gary Martin, an ethnobotanist, did all the gardens and landscaping. My brother Edward helped run the space for a while as well, before leaving to pursue a Ph.D. in Black Geographies at UC Berkeley. My parents had very different upbringings on complete- ly different sides of the planet before meeting by chance on the Zocalo, a busy central square in Oaxaca, Mexico. He lived in a remote village with no phones, so for two years they wrote each other letters and met up for trips every six months or so. Eventu- ally he made the jump to Paris to be with her, and my brother and I were born there. My mother’s parents were in search of a holiday home and my mother, who’d dreamt of being an architect, but became a lawyer like the rest of her family, took the opportunity. Traveling to Marrakech, she was spellbound by its beauty and magic, and made two beautiful houses that she would rent out when we weren’t on holiday. They became an instant success, with press and a loyal A-list clientele. In the late '90s, my parents left Paris for Marrakech and created their own project — Jnane Tamsna. Crazy enough, my father used to cycle around the Palmeraie, the area where we’ve always lived, years before even finding our land. He’d see it and think, “I could plant lots of things here.” And as destiny would have it, this is the land they were shown by the real estate agent.
The name began with the previous property’s name. “Tamsna,” referring to the village across the street. It had become the brand my mother was known for, so they knew it would be included. “Jnane,” which in Arabic means, “garden of paradise,” usually refers to a farm. When signing for the land, the agent asked them what they’d call it and they answered, “Jnane Tamsna.” Confused, he asked again, and, equally confused, they repeated it. He said, “But this has been the name of this land for generations.” Destiny, again. There are many pioneering factors of our space. My mother, a Black woman, pioneered boutique hospitality in Marrakech back in the '80s with her first project and then again in 2001 with the opening of Jnane Tamsna. We are a socially and environmen- tally responsible, farm-to-table hotel with production headed by my father, who plants, among a dizzying number of other things, over 40 varieties of tomatoes of all different colors, shapes, sizes, and flavors. My father also founded the Global Diversity Foun- dation over 20 years ago, and our guests have the opportunity to give back through their stay, wedding, or retreat, supporting projects from girls education, to the conservation of ancestral knowledge, and local production commercialization to enable rural communities to thrive. We also host special cultural experiences. Philoxenia is a writer’s retreat we launched this year with workshops led by brilliant minds such as Pulitzer Prize winner Tyehimba Jess. A scholarship for HBCUs through the Global Diversity Foundation gives students a full ride to this life-changing week of learning, writing, and exchange.
Our land has a special energy, it’s magnetic and calming yet inspiring and energizing. Aside from it being my home and the fact I love the events we throw here (the weddings we do are truly spectacular) there was a defining factor in that energy. It’s difficult to describe. It must be experienced.
AC: The African Diaspora is full of more stories and histories than we can imagine, and far more than we usually tell. You’ve mentioned your work in documenting your own ancestral history. How far back have you been able to trace your story? Have you been amazed by what you’ve found?
TS: I’m fortunate to have a rich archive of documents, newspaper articles, and photos of my Caribbean family dating back to the late 19th century. Our ancestral story is so well known in my family, that we’ve heard the collection of tales since we were kids. My great-great-great grandfather was a Guadeloupean slave, whose parents were born in Africa. After emancipation, he saved enough money to buy back the land that he and his parents had worked on. His son became one of France’s first Black con- gressmen. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, and we are very lucky to have an archival trove of so many writings and images.
I’m slowly writing it all into a book, which may eventually be a screenplay, documenting over 100 years of my family’s history. It sometimes seems like a colossal responsibility, to honor the lives of my ancestors, but when I remember that they fought re- lentlessly for the promise of a better future for their children and all those who would follow, and I realize that my brother, my cousins and I embody the realization of their wildest dreams, I am empowered and motivated to take on the mission of telling our story to the world.
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