In April Michael A. Toler, Archnet Content Manager, and Sharon C. Smith, Program Head of the Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT (AKDC@MIT) traveled to Morocco for a workshop and seminar organized by AKDC@MIT and the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies (TALIM). Following these events Smith and Toler traveled to other cities in Morocco to discuss possibilities for collaboration.
The workshop and seminar, held at TALIM April 11-12, focused on digital preservation of cultural heritage in Northern Morocco, were attended by researchers, scholars, preservationists, and representatives of cultural heritage institutions including universities, libraries, government and non-governmental institutions with a focus on preservation. The facilities of the museum housed in the former American Legation in the medina of Tangier, provided a particularly fitting setting for the event. The Legation was designated a National Historical Landmark of the United States in 1982, and is also recognized as a historic site by Morocco.
The workshop on April 11 provided an opportunity for representatives of cultural heritage institutions in the northern part of Morocco to discuss and explore solutions to the challenges of sustainable documentation of cultural heritage. That evening the Cinematheque de Tanger hosted a public screening of footage from film projects being prepared by students of the cinema program of Abdelmalek Essaadi University in Tetouan. The program was organized by Ayoub Lahlou, Outreach Coordinator of TALIM, and a Masters Degree Candidate in the program.
The seminar on April 12, also organized by Toler and Smith, included academics, activists, curators, librarians, and others involved in the preservation of architecture and other tangible cultural heritage. Open to the public, it was intended to raise awareness of the importance of documenting and preserving cultural heritage, and of the opportunities and challenges this entails. Sessions were recorded, and are currently being made available on TALIM’s website, along with additional photographs of the events. The full schedule is available here.
In the two weeks following the seminar, Smith and Toler traveled to Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech, and Ben Guerir for a series of meetings and presentations introducing AKDC@MIT and exploring possibilities for collaboration with institutions of higher education, libraries, and heritage organizations.
The gallery below presents some of the highlights of the trip. Look for more information on the outcomes of these visits in the coming months here, on Archnet, and in our social media.
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- Abdelatif Elboudjay , Curator of the Ksar Seghir archeological site; Simon O’Meara , Department of the History of Art and Archaeology, SOAS; Montassir Laoukili , Conservateur Régional du Patrimoine Culturel, Fès-Meknès; and Paul Dahan, President of The Center for Jewish-Moroccan Culture.
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- Sharon Smith working in the riad lobby in the Marrakech medina
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- Juan Palao Gómez, librarian on the Yves Saint-Laurent Museum, speaks with visitors to the library
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- Sharon C. Smith at the Hotel Villa de France in Tangier
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- M’Hammad Benaboud founder of shows pipes of the traditional water system of Tetouan
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- Abdelati Lahlou , Président d’ICOMOS Maroc, speaks in the first session
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- TALIM President Dale F. Eickelman opens the seminar
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- Khaoula Benaomar shows a map of the Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique in Ben Guerir to AKDC Program Head Sharon Smith
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- TALIM Associate Director Yhtimad Bouziane chaired the last panel of the seminar
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- From L to R: TALIM Associate Director Yhtimad Bouziane; Rachid Tafersitti, Association Al Boughaz; Dr. M’hammad Benaboud, Historian
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- Exterior view of the Yves Saint-Laurent Museum, Marrakech
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- Seminar session in the conference room
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- Karim El Kamli and Michael A. Toler in Tetouan
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- Mohammed Boustane, calligraphic artist, and Michael Toler in a Marrakech Cafe
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- Selfie outside the King Fahd School of Translation in Tangier where I taught, 1992-1995
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- Sharon C. Smith and Michael Toler, viewed from the audience
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- Abdelghani Tayyibi (Second from the left), Director of the National School of Architecture in Marrakech, at the opening ceremony of 23rd annual conference of the Groupement de recherche sur espace et territoire (GRET)
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- Seminar attendees in the Legation Conference Room
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- Sharon Smith in a covered alley of the Rabat Medina
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- Filmmakers and Ayoub Lahlou, organizer of the screening, at the Cinémathèque de Tanger
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- Jordi Mas Garriga presents on the Alawite Heritage of Tangier
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- Participants in the conference room
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- Simon O’Meara and Sharon C. Smith
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- Conference Banner at the Cinémathèque de Tanger/Cinéma Rif
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- Filmmakers and Ayoub Lahlou, organizer of the screening, at the Cinémathèque de Tanger
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- John Davison, TALIM Director, delivers remarks at the opening of the conference
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- Filmmakers and Ayoub Lahlou, organizer of the screening, at the Cinémathèque de Tanger
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- M’hammad Benaboud and Sharon C. Smith in a house of the Tetouan medina undergoing renovation
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- Participants in the conference room
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- Sharon C. Smith maps seminar themes in the opening presentation
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- Michael Toler points to a photograph from TALIM’s glass negatives during his presentation
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- View through the window to Sharon C. Smith, AKDC Program Head
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- Reception at Atelier Kissaria in Tangier
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- The unique collections of the Tetouan Public Library
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- Faculty of Letters & Human Sciences, BenM’Sik, Hassan II University, Casablanca
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- Karim El Kamli, photographer, at work capturing a particular perspective
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- Participants in the conference room
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- Sign for the lab of the program in Moroccan-American Studies at the Faculty of Letters & Human Sciences, BenM’Sik, Hassan II University.
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- A museum of Moroccan cultural artifacts at the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, BenM’Sik, Hassan II University. The collection includes artifacts provided by students of the university
