Fez — The “International Artists Gathering of Fez” is set to return for its eighth edition from May 14 to 17, turning the city’s old medina into a meeting point for artists, scholars, performers, and cultural practitioners from Morocco and abroad. 

“Fez Art Lab” will organize the event, which will unfold under the banner “Art Is Not a Thing,” with a thematic focus on healing the past, transforming the present, and imagining the future.

This year’s edition centers on collective healing, framing art as a way to respond to social fragmentation, displacement, and conflict. 

The four-day program is expected to include exhibitions, panel discussions, performances, workshops, and public encounters designed to connect local audiences with an international creative network. 

The gathering also seeks to serve as a public platform for exchange across disciplines and cultures. Founded in 2015 by Omar Chennafi, a photographer, curator, and cultural practitioner from Fez, the event has grown over the years into a recurring international platform for artistic exchange in the city.

Art, memory, and public exchange

The 2026 program is expected to bring together more than 40 participants from over 10 national backgrounds, reflecting the event’s ambition to keep Fez connected to wider artistic and intellectual conversations.  

Among the featured names are María Velasco, an interdisciplinary artist from the United States; Sol Bautista, a psychologist with ties to Mexico and the United States; Ahmed Bennani, a Moroccan visual artist; Hajar Fradin, a psychologist linked to France and Morocco; Maria Caixés, a visual artist from Spain; Yedo Gibson, a musician from Brazil; and Emma Nightingale, a visual artist from the United Kingdom. 

According to a press release from the organizers, the gathering aims not only to host visiting artists but also to strengthen local artistic ecosystems, support emerging Moroccan creators, and encourage intergenerational dialogue.

That direction fits the wider identity of the Fez Gathering, which previous editions also presented as a space where contemporary art meets urgent public questions. 

The event’s website archives describe earlier programs built around exhibitions, workshops, and discussions rooted in both local realities and global concerns.

Why Fez matters to the theme

The choice of Fez is central to the event’s meaning. The press release links the 2026 edition to the city’s deep cultural and historical layers, including the memory of the Maristan of Sidi Frej, described as one of the earliest known centers of psychosocial care in the Islamic world.

 That reference gives the theme of healing a local historical anchor, tying contemporary artistic practice to older traditions of care, dignity, and social responsibility.

The event is being organized in collaboration with partners including “ALC Fes/ALIF,” “Goethe-Institut Marokko,”  “Les Étoiles de Fès Cultural Center,” “Kan Ya Makan Center,” and “AMESIP,” according to the official press release. 

All events are announced as free and open to the public.