Under the high palm trees of the green courtyard of the Dar El Bacha palace in Marrakech, Mehdi Qotbi, president of the FNM, and Jack Lang, president of the IMA, deliver, under the crackling of the flashes, their statement to the press to capture a new chapter in the relationship between the National Museum Foundation and the Arab World Institute.
And, it is in the midst of this sumptuous setting that the two men will seal a partnership agreement for the organization of the first travelling exhibition in Morocco of masterpieces from the IMA’s unique collection, before sipping their smoking cups of Arabian coffee, Following in the footsteps of personalities from the world of art and politics, who came before them to visit this place full of history, such as Charlie Chaplin, Winston Churchill, Josephine Baker, or the American president Franklin Roosevelt.
The convention aims to exhibit in March 2023, roaming in Morocco, the masterpieces of the collection of the Arab World Institute of Arab Painters, at the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rabat, The Kasbah Museum, a contemporary art space in Tangier and the Dar El Bacha Confluence Museum in Marrakech. This is the first time these works have left the IMA. This exhibition will be exploded on several museums of the Kingdom so that it is accessible to the Moroccan public», says Mehdi Qotbi.
Beyond the highly symbolic scope of the meeting, the idea is to contribute, through culture, to easing the tensions currently weighing on diplomatic relations between the Kingdom and France. «This is a way of recognizing the importance of Morocco as a great country of culture», stresses Jack Lang. He added, «Our desire is that the bond between these two brother countries is deepened and that we succeed in re-establishing a friendly relationship again».