في دائرة الضوء
A Museum for Every Region
Mehdi Qotbi on Building Morocco’ s Museum Network
In this wide-ranging interview, Moroccan artist Mehdi Qotbi, President of the National Foundation of Museums, shares his vision of the state of museums in Morocco and the new roles they have come to play as living spaces for encounter, dialogue, participation, and openness— places where past and present intersect and where visitors can glimpse the future. For Qotbi, a museum does not merely transmit knowledge or preserve and display collections; it gives visitors the tools to form their own perspectives, becoming a space for interaction, reflection, and questioning, and a living link among people, knowledge, and beauty.
With this in mind, Qotbi revisits key milestones in the founding and development of Morocco’ s museums, their structure, and how they operate. He also discusses the contemporary thinking that underpins the museum experience today, which makes museums places for both acquiring knowledge and cultivating aesthetic sensibility. The conversation also turns to the impact of digital transformation on museum management and on museums’ ability to convey their mission; to ways of building a more interactive relationship with audiences, particularly younger generations; and to the role that art and culture can play in economic development.
Within this integrated vision, which neither loses sight of present challenges nor of future aspirations, Morocco’ s museums emerge as more than places for preserving and displaying collections. They are a mirror of memory, heritage, and identity on the one hand, and a window onto the world on the other, revealing cultural diversity and the shared values and human experiences that connect peoples.
I. STRATEGY, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND CULTURAL DECENTRALIZATION
The National Foundation of Museums: Strategy and Future Vision
Fifteen years after the National Foundation of Museums( FNM) was founded, what is the next step in your institutional roadmap: creating new museums, consolidating the existing network, or refocusing on other priorities?
First, I would like to recall that the National Foundation of Museums was established in 2011 thanks to the enlightened vision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI. Since then, the Foundation has built a substantial record of achievement. It has worked to preserve, promote, and showcase our national heritage and to make it accessible to all by restoring existing museums and creating new spaces, driven by the ambition to equip every region of the Kingdom with high-quality museum institutions.
This vision has led to the opening of museums in several cities, including Tangier, Tetouan, Marrakech, Rabat, Casablanca, Fez, and Agadir. Today, the foundation operates 22 museums open to the public, serving as spaces for discovery, knowledge sharing, and promoting Morocco’ s rich cultural heritage. We are sustaining this momentum through several major projects underway. Among them is the Museum of Moroccan Jewish Culture in Fez, scheduled to open in October 2026. It will highlight an essential component of Morocco’ s history and plural identity and shed light on the richness of our shared heritage. We are also making progress on the African City of Culture— Museum of the Continent, scheduled to open in 2028. It will serve as a space for dialogue, knowledge, and rapprochement among Africa’ s peoples. In Rabat, work continues on the National Museum of Archaeology and Earth Sciences, which will showcase Morocco’ s exceptional archaeological and geological treasures.
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