Thursday, August 07, 2008
Asilah Festival opens in Morocco
The Asilah Arts Festival in Morocco (from August 3 till August 30, 2008) is an annual cultural extravaganza that takes place in the month of August. Both studio and performing artists from all over the world, journalists, writers, painters, musicians and dancers gather at the Asilah Arts Festival imparting the setting with color, exuberance and dynamism.
The painters at the Morocco Asilah Arts Festival are given an entire wall at the Medina to be used as a canvas for their imagination. They paint a mural on it on any topic and it’s quite a treat to watch their brushes swishing and swirling to create interesting and intriguing designs. The Asilah Arts Festival, Morocco is probably the most important of the art festivals in Morocco but much more than this, it is a forum for the artists and activists all around the world to express their art and ideas.
Asilah or Arzila is a fortified town on the northwest tip of the Atlantic coast of Morocco, about 50 km from Tangier. Its ramparts and gateworks remain fully intact. It is now a popular seaside resort, with modern holiday apartment complexes on the coast road leading to the town from Tangier. Its history dates back to 1500 B.C., when the Phoenicians used it as a base for trade.
A major plan to restore the town was undertaken in 1978. Moroccan Minister Mohammed Benaïssa and Mohammed Melehi initiated a cultural festival in the city of Asilah that was adapted to Bahrain under the name “Bahrain - Asilah Arts & Culture Forum” in April 2004.
Since 1978, Asilah has been hosting an annual music and arts festival ‘Asilah Festival’ or Moussem in August, that attracts artists from around the world. The stark blue and white walls of houses in the medina are plastered with murals by artists during the course of the festival.
Earlier this year, Mohammed Benaissa was awarded the Sheikh Zayed Book Award for Cultural Personality of the Year for 2008 at a ceremony in Abu Dhabi. The awards have been instituted to recognise contributions to scholarship and creative development.
Source: Saudi Gazette (Saudi Arabia)
Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
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5 comments:
Just discovered your blog. Have been to Maroc 3 times so far. Bringing a group to Sacred Music Festival next year. Lots of great info. My blogs: mysteryranch.blogspot.com
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hamidatheherbalist.blogspot.com
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While I was of course delighted to come across my photo posted here to illustrate this story, it is posted on Flickr with the Creative Commons license asking for attribution. I have turned to your blog as THE resource for travel on my three trips to Fez (and if you look at the rest of the Flickr pictures you can see I was married there too) so I am happy to give something back. But as someone posting content on the web I'm sure you can understand wanting to have credit given where it is asked for.
H.N.A.
Hi HNA,
Thanks for getting in touch. The photo was sent to us without any claim of ownership. However OF COURSE we are happy to attribute - and make a habit of it. Please email us your details and webpage and we will add the attribution.
Cheers
The View from Fez
thx samir - the image is from flickr.com and for what it's worth the full set can be seen here.
hello, I would like to know the dates of the asilah art festival , is there eny website?I've be lloking on the web but didn't find one. How can I partecipate as an artist?
thank you
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