Welcome To Intangible Cultural Heritage in Marrakech

Jemaa el Fna Museum

Museum of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Marrakech

After several years of restoration work, Jamaâ el-Fna, Museum of Intangible Heritage, opened its doors to the public on Friday, February 24, 2023, on the legendary square of Marrakech.

Listed as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO in 2008, as the first site on the list of oral and intangible heritage of humanity, the Jamaâ El-Fna square is a place of meetings and mixtures of different oral traditions.

Location

Located in the former headquarters of Bank Al Maghrib, the museum offers visitors the opportunity to discover the history of the square in the ochre city, to value the halqa and its different arts, and to raise awareness among the public of the major interest of this common heritage, in order to preserve and transmit it to future generations.

The exhibition

The exhibition is dedicated to the Jamaâ el-Fna square and its actors. The tour is divided into different sections: the history of Marrakech and the Jamaâ el-Fna square, the presentation of the halqa and the hlaiqis, as well as the secrets of their know-how and their trades.

The Design

Designed in harmony with the building that houses it, the museum unveils a numismatic section, a tribute to Bank Al Maghrib and the personnel who worked there. In addition to a space dedicated to the presentation of the square through the arts (painting, theater, cinema, and photography). Two masterpieces by Jacques Majorelle, which illustrate in detail the daily scenes of this place, are exhibited, as well as paintings by renowned artists who have marked Moroccan painting in general and local painting in particular.

Jamaâ El-Fna, Museum of Intangible Heritage is designed as an extension of this beating heart of Marrakech. It enriches the museum offer of the ochre city and contributes to the safeguarding and dissemination of its ancestral and universal heritage, an integral part of the collective memory.

Conclusion

The project is the result of a partnership between the Wilaya of the Marrakech-Safi region, the municipality of Marrakech, the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication, Bank Al Maghrib, Mr. Hamid Triki, and the National Foundation of Museums. It is mainly supported by ISESCO, Moulay Hafid Elalamy, and the Noufissa Pharma 5 Foundation.