The UNESCO-listed city of Marrakesh will soon be home to the Marrakesh Museum for Photography and Visual Art (also named MMP+), the world’s largest museum of its kind, which is set to open in 2016 near the Menara Gardens in the outskirts of the city.
British architect Sir David Chipperfield designed the 80,000 square foot freestanding museum, which will house a permanent collection of Moroccan photographers and visual artists, as well as regular regional and international exhibitions. Moroccan photographers who will be featured in the permanent collection of the museum include Hassan Hajjaj, Yto Barrada, Carole Benitah, Hicham Benouhoud, Ali Chraibi, Yasmine Bouziane Daoud, Hicham Gardaf, Lamia Naji, Leila Sadel, and Aoulad Syad.
According to David Knaus, the museum is a cultural initiative that will help to put the North African and Arab visual art scene into the limelight. “There is a huge amount of photography talent in this part of the world which isn’t known about, and that’s what we want to highlight,” Knaus said in an official statement, adding that the curated exhibitions will be focused on culture, photojournalism, architecture, design, and fashion.
Besides the permanent collection and regular exhibitions, the museum will also serve as a laboratory of sorts for a new generation of Moroccan curators, who will be able to develop exhibition projects backed with mentorships from internationally acclaimed art academics. In addition, the MMP+ will be launching a scholarship program with the University of Arizona, enabling Moroccan students to take museum studies courses abroad.
This past November, the MMP+ celebrated a pre-launch at the Palais Badiâ, and has also already started a program that features regular exhibitions and art events prior to the official launch in 2016. Upcoming initiatives of the MMP+ include the solo exhibition of London-based artist Shezad Dawood at the Palais Badiâ, within the regular program of the upcoming Marakkesh Biennial from February 26th until March 31st.
—Elisabeta Tudor
