في دائرة الضوء
It was such a rich program that we decided to maintain the same pace in mediation and arts education as the school year began, particularly because some activities now recur with each exhibition in a more structured way, alongside the associations and institutions committed to working with children.
Are you seeking to expand the museum’ s collection of Moroccan art? If so, how do you plan to proceed?
The museum’ s mission is to preserve, acquire, study, and showcase its collections and to make them accessible to the public through scholarly and cultural programs. As part of Morocco’ s national museums, we pursue an ambitious acquisition policy. Our collection has a distinctive scholarly dimension, bringing together artists, styles, and schools. We continually consider how to enrich, study, and present it to the public. The Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art remains the country’ s most important institution for modern and contemporary art. We take this responsibility seriously. We focus on curating and programming works of art, as well as on training and educational mediation, because a museum is a tool for producing artistic knowledge.
Your museum is presenting Moroccan art in a new light, notably through Moving Horizons, the permanent exhibition that opened in 2025 and traces a century of transformation in Moroccan art. What vision guides the exhibition, and how were the works selected?
The exhibition opened in June 2025 and is closely tied to art history. It traces the development of Morocco’ s visual arts from their origins in the early twentieth century to the present across all forms of expression. This century-long span examines the styles of pioneering artists and the mark they left, particularly within the schools that first nurtured their visions, dreams, and concerns, such as the fine-arts schools of Casablanca and Tetouan. This is what gave Moroccan painting its distinctive character and secured its place on the international stage. Arranged chronologically, from the beginnings of modern Moroccan art to the present, the exhibition showcases a range of styles. It offers visitors a chance to discover what Moroccan art is, as well as its aesthetic possibilities and intellectual foundations.
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A museum is a dynamic, living space, open to its surroundings.
Some museums are shifting from a logic centered on preserving and displaying their collections toward one driven by cultural programming, and at times toward the“ audiencecentered museum.” Does this apply to your museum, and to what extent have you embraced this shift?
This philosophy is at the forefront today because a museum cannot be limited to preserving, safeguarding, and providing access to its collection, nor should it be reduced to its exhibitions alone. What matters to us is the relationship between the public and cultural programming. Exhibitions allow us to study the works and build relationships with the public. This, in turn, helps us renew our thinking about our collection and acquisition goals each year. As I see it, the museum today is a dynamic, living space, open to its surroundings— not an isolated margin, cut off from its environment.
Achraf El Hassani is a Moroccan critic and art historian writing on the visual arts, cinema, and photography.
Musée Mohammed VI d ' Art Moderne et Contemporain
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