About us
Al-Muniya Association of Marrakech for the Revival and Preservation of the Heritage of Morocco
(Founded on 19 December 2006)
Presentation
The al-Muniya Association of Marrakech works towards a deeper understanding of the cultural and heritage issues at stake in Morocco, and through its activities helps to bring them to light, for the country as a whole and for Marrakech and its region in particular.
The association aspires to be both witness to and active agent in the preservation of the nation's tangible and intangible heritage. This legacy indeed presents two facets: one turned towards the past, as a bequest that ought to be preserved, and the other turned towards the future, as a trust that ought to be handed down to generations to come. To make heritage understood, to meditate upon it, to promote it, to restore its monuments according to the scientific standards recognised by experts and connoisseurs, and to revive its substance: such is the aim of al-Muniya of Marrakech. It also strives to encourage individuals and institutions to commit themselves to the defence of this national cause. It further aspires to strengthen the role of Marrakech by endowing the city with cultural institutions of the highest standing, where the rich diversity of Morocco's heritage might be constantly renewed and revived. The al-Muniya Association of Marrakech wishes to contribute, through its cultural programme, to the eminent role of cultural and artistic mediation that Marrakech plays, and to inscribe it within the illustrious intellectual and spiritual map of the Mediterranean. The city is, in truth, a mediating isthmus in the dialogue between East and West, and a providential interpreter of the arts of Morocco and al-Andalus.
Since its founding in December 2006, the association has succeeded in diversifying its cultural programme and broadening its fields of action, some of a local and national character, others of an international character. Since then, al-Muniya of Marrakech has committed itself to the work of rehabilitating the Medina, first by organising national and international symposia on tangible and intangible heritage, foremost among them Samaa Marrakech, Encounters and Sufi Music, held every year since 2007. These encounters take place within a varied programme combining lectures, spiritual music and concerts of Moroccan-Andalusian music, all in a convivial spirit that honours the paths of openness, of the middle way and of love in traditional culture. This living heritage offers a providential occasion for meditation, and allows the public to discover a contemplative attitude, mindful of the dignity of Man, made possible by the emotion of music, poetic concision and the spell that the storyteller's art casts over his audience.
The association also founded La Madrassa to teach Arabic calligraphy, a weekly course to teach Moroccan-Andalusian music, and the Nafh al-Tib literary majlis for the study and discussion of the literature and history of the Muslim West.
The Jbel Lakhdar Encounters, devoted to the traditional sciences of music and their spiritual horizons, and to the art of laying out the geometry of string instruments, further complement Samaa Marrakech.
Furthermore, to celebrate spring, al-Muniya of Marrakech has instituted a new festival, the Zahriya of Marrakech. The association took this initiative to celebrate the age-old ceremony of distilling orange blossom water.
A great ambition indeed drives the association: to endow the city with a true annual Moussem devoted to the cultural and creative industries, in tribute to the ancestral art of living. At the outset, al-Muniya of Marrakech was a pioneer in this innovation. Today, many public and private cultural and tourism institutions join the Zahriya to celebrate it, the aim being to establish the Zahriya as a festival of Marrakech.
From the spring of 2021, al-Muniya of Marrakech broadened the horizon of its work by creating the Marrakech School of Storytelling, in order to train a new generation of storytellers. In this way, the association seeks to recover the cultural and spiritual substance of Jemaa el-Fna square, its halqas and its storyteller's theatre. The association considers the cause of Jemaa el-Fna to be the story of a renaissance of popular and traditional culture, one that ought to nourish not only the famous square but the whole city.
From June 2021, the association inaugurated a new literary majlis named Diwan al-Kutubiyyine, in the shadow of the Koutoubia, at the heart of a territory crowned with an ancient sacredness. This “literary salon” aims to present books and their authors, and to open discussion on themes of current publishing interest. But not only that. The association wishes to reinvent this prestigious site and to see the cultural and artistic memory of the kutubiyyine unfold there once more. It works to assign to the surroundings of the Koutoubia a new mission of regeneration, indeed a cultural, economic and commercial transformation. The aim is to bring the book trades back to this old quarter, and on a large scale, in tribute to the “booksellers' quarter”.
The Medina of Marrakech
The Medina of Marrakech has the distinction of being twice inscribed on the prestigious register of World Heritage: in 1985 for the heritage of the Medina, and in 2001 for the oral and intangible heritage of Jemaa el-Fna. And in a few years' time, it will commemorate the millennium of its founding.
The Medina of Marrakech, inscribed as tangible and intangible heritage of Humanity, is a witness to History, the crystallised imprint of ancient societies, the fruit of the slow sedimentation of social and urban practices over the ages. It stands as an example of what the Islamic city once was: a harmonious whole in which a common measure prevails between man, the room, the house, the quarter, the city and the outer environment, hence its stimulating, reassuring, warmly human and natural character. Today, the Medina of Marrakech is living through exceptional moments in the light of its almost millennial history. Vast programmes for the enhancement and rehabilitation of its heritage are under way within its ramparts. The financial effort made by the State and by the elected bodies, and the number of works undertaken, have no equivalent in its recent urban history. One would indeed have to go back to the middle of the 16th century to find a commitment by a sovereign in favour of the Medina comparable to that of His Majesty King Mohammed VI.
Since the historic inauguration in 2014 of the royal programme Marrakech, City of Permanent Renewal, which aims at the rehabilitation of the Medina within its walls, the al-Muniya Association of Marrakech has followed and supported these large-scale urban interventions through reflection, participatory consultation, expert opinion, and by urging the administrations in charge of this campaign of restoration of the old urban fabric to adopt the scientific method of treating and repairing traditional urban fabric according to the standards recognised by UNESCO.
Pursuant to the prefectural order of July 2019 establishing the committee charged with studying and giving its opinion on the various projects for the rehabilitation of the Medina, the al-Muniya Association of Marrakech takes part in it as an observer member, and in this capacity submits its observations and suggestions.
The purpose of al-Muniya's frequent and regular activities is to foster intellectual and artistic debate in the city, to bring about a beneficial effect in the hearts and understanding of the public, and to open new horizons. This cultural programme strengthens Marrakech in its role as an eminent cultural and spiritual centre and restores to it its place on the prestigious cultural map of the Mediterranean. Through these activities, the aim is also to revive the national cultural memory, to promote the heritage of Marrakech, to offer spaces for debate in a spirit of tolerance and respect, and to perpetuate the fine cultural traditions and the art of living, notably in the gatherings of the literary majlis.
A wide and varied public benefits from the activities organised by the al-Muniya Association of Marrakech: tens, hundreds or thousands of participants, according to whether the gathering is weekly, monthly, quarterly or annual. The board of the association is composed of men and women according to the principle of parity. The association has succeeded in forming a network of experts, academics, connoisseurs and figures connected with the world of culture and the arts at local, national and international level, in the service of science and the arts and of those who serve them, and mindful of all that Marrakech embodies for civilisation.
Association accredited by UNESCO
Since June 2024, the al-Muniya Association of Marrakech for the Revival and Preservation of the Heritage of Morocco has enjoyed accreditation from UNESCO to act in an advisory capacity to the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (Resolution 10.GA 9), as decided by the General Assembly of the States Parties to the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, at its tenth session held at UNESCO Headquarters.
Overview of the association's activities
Since its founding in December 2006, the association has succeeded in diversifying its cultural programme and broadening its fields of action, some of a local and national character, others of an international character. Since then, al-Muniya of Marrakech has committed itself to contributing to the work of rehabilitating the Medina, first by organising national and international symposia on tangible and intangible heritage, foremost among them:
Samaa Marrakech, Encounters and Sufi Music, held every year from 2007 until 2022.
This annual gathering is built around the values of the spiritual tradition and its universal horizon.
The Encounters take place within a varied programme combining lectures, spiritual music and concerts of Moroccan-Andalusian music, all in a convivial spirit that honours the paths of openness, of the middle way and of love in traditional culture. This living heritage offers a providential occasion for meditation, and allows the public to discover a contemplative attitude, mindful of human dignity, made possible by the emotion of music and poetic concision.
The Zahriya of Marrakech: the celebration of the ceremony of distilling orange blossom water, held each year to welcome spring. The distillation of orange blossom is an ancestral tradition to which the families of Marrakech are deeply attached.
“Marrakech is the world capital of orange blossom!” al-Muniya of Marrakech perpetuates a tradition that has crossed the centuries: Marrakech is home to thousands of bitter orange trees, planted in its streets, its public gardens and its houses…
This ceremony belongs to family traditions, but above all to women's traditions.
A great ambition indeed drives the association: to endow the city with a true annual Moussem devoted to orange blossom as an ancestral art of living.
It should be noted that the al-Muniya Association of Marrakech submitted to the Ministry of Culture the proposal to inscribe the Zahriya of Marrakech on the list of national intangible cultural heritage. Since July 2022, the Zahriya of Marrakech has been inscribed on the list of national intangible cultural heritage.
La Madrassa, for the teaching of Arabic calligraphy (weekly course)
The Majlis for the teaching of Moroccan-Andalusian music (weekly course)
The Marrakech School of Storytelling: the training of a new generation of storytellers, boys and girls, from the spring of 2021. The association seeks to recover the cultural and spiritual substance of Jemaa el-Fna square, its halqas and its storyteller's theatre. The association considers the cause of Jemaa el-Fna to be the story of a renaissance of popular and traditional culture, one that ought to nourish not only the famous square but the whole city. In this capacity, the association takes part in organising the Marrakech International Storytelling Festival, the Moussem of Storytellers (annual).
The Jbel Lakhdar Encounters on the traditional sciences of music and the art of laying out the geometry of string instruments.
The Nafh al-Tib literary majlis (The Breath of Perfume), for the study and discussion of the literature and history of the Maghreb and al-Andalus (monthly).
The al-Kutubiyyine literary majlis, a literary salon for encounters and the presentation of works and their authors (monthly).
The celebration of the feast of Ashura (annual) and the ritual performance of the Daqqa Marrakchia.
The Tinmel Encounters: this annual gathering is held in Tinmel, in the heart of the High Atlas mountains in the region of Marrakech, to take stock of Almohad studies.
Document prepared by Jaafar Kansoussi for the Board of the al-Muniya Association of Marrakech