For an optimal view of our website, please rotate your tablet horizontally.
The opening of the Museum Mohammed VI of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMVI) in Rabat, Morocco has been re-scheduled for 7 October 2014.
By Pat Binder & Gerhard Haupt | Sep 2014+++ The opening Museum Mohammed VI of Modern and Contemporary Art has been postponed to 7 October. +++
After 10 years of construction and many more years of plans and debates, the Museum Mohammed VI of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMVI) will finally open on 7 October 2014.
Located in the city center of Rabat on the corner of Avenue Moulay El Hassan and Avenue Allal Ben Abdallah, the three-level building with a covered surface area of 9400 m2, conceived by the architect Karim Chakor, will provide space and infrastructure for a permanent collection and temporary exhibitions, auditorium, art & multimedia libraries, conservation lab, education department, offices, service, storage and technical areas, as well as a restaurant.
As stated on the MMVI's Facebook in French, it is the first museum's institution in Morocco dedicated entirely to modern and contemporary arts, and the first public institution following international museological standards. The Museum aims to cover the evolution of Moroccan artistic creation in the visual arts, from the beginning of the 20th century to our days.
According to various Moroccan media sources, the Museum Mohammed VI of Modern and Contemporary Art has mobilized and allocated resources for investment that reached 200 million dirhams (aprox. 17.7 million euros). The Ministry of Culture, contracting authority of the project, has contributed with 44 million dirhams (about 4 million euros), whereas the rest has been secured by the Fonds Hassan II for Economic and Social Development.
Last year, the Fondation nationale des musées - Maroc, the institution that oversees 14 national museums, appointed Abdelaziz Idrissi, an archeologist and former curator of the Musée de la Casbah de Tanger, as director of the MMVI's.
But more than the opening of the building itself, which for many artists and intellectuals is considered too traditional as an architectural design, the inaugural exhibition is awaited with expectation, because it will unveil the museum’s concept for its future collection. "100 Years of Creation", the show proposed to trace the country’s art history from the beginning of the 20th century to the present, is curated by Mohamed Rachdi, a well-respected artist, art critic and curator, who was responsible for the reconceptualization of the Musée Mohammed VI, and in charge of its scientific and cultural project. Bringing together about 300 artworks, "100 Years of Creation" is divided in four chronological sections: The pioneers; the generation of the 1950s; the recognized masters of the 1980s and 1990s; and the current developments since the year 2000.
Already in 2010, Nafas Art Magazine published a richly illustrated feature of the exhibition "Corps et Figure du Corps" curated by Mohamed Rachdi, while he was Head of the Artistic Patronage Service at the Bank Société Générale, Morocco.
See the feature: >> Corps et Figure du Corps
Including an interview with Mohamed Rachdi by Bérénice Saliou.
Pat Binder & Gerhard Haupt
Publishers of Universes in Universe - Worlds of Art. Based in Berlin, Germany.
Opening:
7 October 2014
with the exhibition
"100 Years of Creation"
curated by Mohamed Rachdi