Fez — The Asilah Forum Foundation has set the autumn session of the 46th International Cultural Moussem for September 26 to October 12.
Organizers say the program will convene leading voices from the worlds of thought, politics, media, and the arts, keeping with a four-decade tradition that has helped position Asilah as a national and Mediterranean cultural hub.
This year’s fall agenda includes a three-day colloquium, “Mohamed Benaïssa… homme d’État et icône de la culture,” in the Tente de la Création, honoring the late founder of the Forum and reflecting on his contributions to ideas, artistic creation, and intercultural dialogue.
The tribute will gather colleagues and friends of the former minister and mayor from Morocco and abroad across September 26–28. A dedicated photography exhibition on Mohamed Benaïssa will also be staged at the Palais de la Culture.
Literature and poetry will feature prominently. The 13th edition of the Tchicaya U Tam’si African Poetry Prize is slated for October 9, maintaining the Moussem’s long association with African letters. Book signings punctuate the calendar, with authors such as Mauritanian writer-journalist Abdallah Ould Mohamedi (September 28), Moroccan author and former minister Mohamed Saâd Alami (October 4), and novelist-anthropologist Mohamed El Maazouz (October 11).
Visual arts will remain a pillar of the event. The Hassan II International Meetings Center gallery will open an exhibition for Bahraini artist Lobna Al-Amin and Syrian calligrapher-painter Khaled Al-Saai on September 27, followed by an homage show for Moroccan painter Abdelkrim Ouazzani on October 5. Two additional colloquia will examine “Art and the Power of Technique” (October 3–4) and “The Institution: Concept and Artistic Realization” (October 10–11), extending the Moussem’s critical discourse around contemporary practice.
Policy and geopolitics intersect with culture in a colloquium on “The Atlantic Initiative: Toward an Integrated African Vision of the Atlantic Space,” organized with the Policy Center for the New South on September 30. Alongside the high-level talks, the Foundation will host hands-on workshops in engraving, oil painting, lithography, theater, creative writing for children, music education, and a “Talents de l’enfant” program—continuing the Moussem’s emphasis on youth and skills development.
The autumn session follows a summer edition held in late June and early July, underscoring the Moussem’s two-part format introduced in recent years to broaden participation and programming across seasons. Together, the sessions sustain Asilah’s role as a laboratory for Moroccan cultural policy, artistic production, and regional exchange.
