In 2020, Marrakesh is the first African city to wear the colors of the African Capitals of Culture. Marrakesh is the perfect place to host this continental event, elaborating a reference model for the development of this program.
Marrakesh 2020 wants to higlight a range of expressions and lively disciplines on the continent. They are a proof that Africa is endowed with abundant creativity. They open up the fields of possibilities, "draw an African utopia" and revolve around unifying projects and events.
Why is Marrakesh designated First African Capital of Culture?
Since returning to the African Union in 2016, Morocco is back to its Africanity. Marrakesh, the touristic capital of the Kingdom, carries all the resources to host such a project: a city of art and history, many tourist infrastructures, a historic crossroad between North and South, large cultural and human diversity, international events …
Therefore, Marrakesh has all the assets to proudly carry the objectives of the African Capitals of Culture in 2020.
The Marrakesh 2020 Steering Committee is chaired by the Wali of Marrakesh and composed of representatives of the Municipality of Marrakesh, the Marrakech Safi Region and UCLG Africa. The Organising Committee is chaired by Mrs Awatef Berdaï, Deputy Mayor of Marrakesh.
Marrakesh, accepting the challenge of being the first African capital of culture, will be able to meet the aspirations for the organization of such an event and will proudly carry the torch of African culture through the presentation of its artistic and cultural wealth and those of the continent. Marrakesh, a thousand-year-old city registered doubly in the universal heritage, first through its medina since 1985 and then Jemaa Lafna square as intangible heritage in 2001, will also confirm in 2020 its vocation to always include art and culture as veritable vectors of openness, tolerance, exchange and also of economic and social development.
Contribute to strengthening the links between our regions and our countries, working together for the emergence of a singular development model where culture is an important lever, establish an African sovereignty bringing its originality to the world on the intellectual, artistic level technological, economic and social; These are the ambitions of this great initiative where Marrakech and its region will baptize a process of cultural cooperation and where a new African capital will take over every three years.
Extract from the speech delivered on 22 February 2019, on the occasion of the signing of the Convention between the Municipality of Marrakesh and the African Capitals of Culture
"More than any other, Marrakesh deserves to be the source link of the network of African Capitals of Culture. Located at the historical crossroads of Arab, European and Black African civilizations, the pearl of a Kingdom particularly attached to multiculturality, Marrakech has been able to respond to the challenges that globalization poses to cultural authenticity while meeting the conditions to develop the syntheses that irrevocably inscribe it in the civilization of the universal dear to Léopold Sedar Senghor.
(…)
From this pan-African event, we will develop a new vision based on the mixing of cultures. In this respect, Morocco occupies a strategic position: between Europe and Africa but above all as a meeting point for sub-Saharan cultures.
It is up to Marrakesh, the central city of this mixing, to become the starting point of a continental dynamic. We will light this torch first and then run from African city to African city.
With Marrakesh in Morocco in 2020, Africa is inaugurating the celebration of African cities as capitals of culture. This celebration shows the firm will of the African populations to offer the world a renewed opportunity every three years, to come to discover one of the oldest cultural lands in the world, to be simply the place where human beings appeared on the planet earth and from where they left to populate the entire earth.
It was in Paris, on the Pont des Arts, that I discovered the monumental sculptures made of straw and jute by the Senegalese Ousmane Sow, and it was there again in the infamous Bataclan hall that I was won over by the voice and fervour of Youssouf N'dour. The Cartier Foundation offered me an exhibition teeming with life, humour and derision from Malian photographer Malick Sidibé. In the art and essay rooms of the Latin Quarter, I enjoyed "Le cri du cœur" by Burkinabe Idrissa Ouedraogo, I was thrilled during a football match without a ball while admiring the cinematographic nugget of Mauritanian Abderrahmane Sissako. France is the country where I followed the daily struggle of the South African novelist Nadine Gordimer against apartheid, the gulps of the Algerians Sansal or Daoud, the philosophical escapades of the Tunisian Meddeb. This same country that gave me donné́ my chance like many artists by awarding me a "sabbatical year" scholarship after my first novel, allowing me to pursue my writing career. And for that, I would be eternally grateful to him.
But why should an African artist have to go so far to be able to exist? Why should I, as a spectator, have to change continents to meet him? How can I celebrate this entertainer and tell him all the good he gives me, the dreams he lights up in me, the hopes he has for the gravity of his fantasy, how can I applaud him when Europe barricades itself day after day, making the Mediterranean a graveyard?
How long would it take for us Africans to appreciate the importance of culture and its extraordinary potential for development? In the West, from a strictly economic point of view, the cultural industry pays more than the automobile industry. A disaster-stricken city like Bilbao can be reborn from the ashes thanks to a museum? So many scourges are preventable when we strive to transmit to young people the culture of life, beauty and love.
With filmmaker Nabil Ayouch, we have created cultural centres in slums. We are convinced that there are no other alternatives, no other weapons to oppose the prevailing obscurantism and its violence than education.
This explains why I agreed to be honorary president of this beautiful adventure: Marrakesh, African Capital of Culture. A project I want to believe in. Want to meet my neighbour at home, at his place. Because I need his light and mine can be useful to him. Because the ochre of my city aspires to spread, to merge with the colours of my neighbour whom I know so little about.
Marrakesh is the ideal city to host the launch of the African Capitals of Culture and the development of the programme, thus becoming the first African Capital of Culture city.
Marrakesh 2020 is determined to show a range of vibrant expressions and disciplines on the continent. They are proof that Africa is endowed with abundant creativity. They open up the fields of possibilities, "draw an African utopia" and are articulated around unifying projects and events.
Words from the members of the Marrakesh 2020 Committee
Marrakesh, accepting the challenge of being the first African capital of culture, will be able to meet the aspirations for the organization of such an event and will proudly carry the torch of African culture through the presentation of its artistic and cultural wealth and those of the continent. Marrakesh, a thousand-year-old city registered doubly in the universal heritage, first through its medina since 1985 and then Jemaa Lafna square as intangible heritage in 2001, will also confirm in 2020 its vocation to always include art and culture as veritable vectors of openness, tolerance, exchange and also of economic and social development.
Contribute to strengthening the links between our regions and our countries, working together for the emergence of a singular development model where culture is an important lever, establish an African sovereignty bringing its originality to the world on the intellectual, artistic level technological, economic and social; These are the ambitions of this great initiative where Marrakesh and its region will baptize a process of cultural cooperation and where a new African capital will take over every three years.
Extract from the speech delivered on 22 February 2019, on the occasion of the signing of the Convention between the Municipality of Marrakesh and the African Capitals of Culture
"More than any other, Marrakesh deserves to be the source link of the network of African Capitals of Culture. Located at the historical crossroads of Arab, European and Black African civilizations, the pearl of a Kingdom particularly attached to multiculturality, Marrakesh has been able to respond to the challenges that globalization poses to cultural authenticity while meeting the conditions to develop the syntheses that irrevocably inscribe it in the civilization of the universal dear to Léopold Sedar Senghor.
(…)
From this pan-African event, we will develop a new vision based on the mixing of cultures. In this respect, Morocco occupies a strategic position: between Europe and Africa but above all as a meeting point for sub-Saharan cultures.
It is up to Marrakesh, the central city of this mixing, to become the starting point of a continental dynamic. We will light this torch first and then run from African city to African city.
With Marrakech in Morocco in 2020, Africa is inaugurating the celebration of African cities as capitals of culture. This celebration shows the firm will of the African populations to offer the world a renewed opportunity every three years, to come to discover one of the oldest cultural lands in the world, to be simply the place where human beings appeared on the planet earth and from where they left to populate the entire earth.
It was in Paris, on the Pont des Arts, that I discovered the monumental sculptures made of straw and jute by the Senegalese Ousmane Sow, and it was there again in the infamous Bataclan hall that I was won over by the voice and fervour of Youssouf N'dour. The Cartier Foundation offered me an exhibition teeming with life, humour and derision from Malian photographer Malick Sidibé. In the art and essay rooms of the Latin Quarter, I enjoyed "Le cri du cœur" by Burkinabe Idrissa Ouedraogo, I was thrilled during a football match without a ball while admiring the cinematographic nugget of Mauritanian Abderrahmane Sissako. France is the country where I followed the daily struggle of the South African novelist Nadine Gordimer against apartheid, the gulps of the Algerians Sansal or Daoud, the philosophical escapades of the Tunisian Meddeb. This same country that gave me donné́ my chance like many artists by awarding me a "sabbatical year" scholarship after my first novel, allowing me to pursue my writing career. And for that, I would be eternally grateful to him.
But why should an African artist have to go so far to be able to exist? Why should I, as a spectator, have to change continents to meet him? How can I celebrate this entertainer and tell him all the good he gives me, the dreams he lights up in me, the hopes he has for the gravity of his fantasy, how can I applaud him when Europe barricades itself day after day, making the Mediterranean a graveyard?
How long would it take for us Africans to appreciate the importance of culture and its extraordinary potential for development? In the West, from a strictly economic point of view, the cultural industry pays more than the automobile industry. A disaster-stricken city like Bilbao can be reborn from the ashes thanks to a museum? So many scourges are preventable when we strive to transmit to young people the culture of life, beauty and love.
With filmmaker Nabil Ayouch, we have created cultural centres in slums. We are convinced that there are no other alternatives, no other weapons to oppose the prevailing obscurantism and its violence than education.
This explains why I agreed to be honorary president of this beautiful adventure: Marrakech, African Capital of Culture. A project I want to believe in. Want to meet my neighbour at home, at his place. Because I need his light and mine can be useful to him. Because the ochre of my city aspires to spread, to merge with the colours of my neighbour whom I know so little about.
Marrakesh has earned this election as the first African Capital of Culture. Firstly because it is a magical city due to its natural beauty and exceptional light, it has attracted local and international artists; painters, photographers, architects, landscape designers, couturiers, designers, craftsmen and many others, but also because of its ancestral history and the hospitality of its inhabitants. Marrakesh is home to an extraordinary number of museums, galleries and other cultural spaces with its Jemâa El Fna square, it is an open-air theatre where all people share a unique and enriching moment, where different cultures meet. Marrakesh 2020, African Capital of Culture is a great opportunity to bear witness to the diversity of African cultures in the continent and by inviting cultural expressions from all over the world. Marrakesh 2020, African Capital of Culture is proud to be the Cultural Ambassador of our beautiful Africa.