A museum in the Netherlands is displaying more than 30 works of art from Morocco’s National Foundation of Museums (FNM) to promote the North African country’s cultural diversity.

Netherlands Exhibits Moroccan Culture, Art in Dutch Museum

Rabat – A museum in the Netherlands is displaying more than 30 works of art from Morocco’s National Foundation of Museums (FNM) to promote the North African country’s cultural diversity.

The Cobra museum of modern art in Amstelveen, Netherlands began exhibiting the artworks on April 14 and will continue to do so until September 18.

“The Moroccan art scene is exceptionally rich, and it is our duty to participate in the dissemination of our art and to make it known to the world,” FNM President Mehdi Qotbi told Morocco’s Press Agency (MAP) on Thursday.

“The Other Story: Moroccan Modernism” exhibition is the first of its kind in the Netherlands and will introduce the public to the evolution of modern art since the country’s independence in 1956.

More than 40 Moroccan artists will be represented in the exhibition including Talal Chaïbia, Mohamed Chabaa, Malika Agueznay, Daoud Aoulad-Sayed, Mohamed Melehi, Essaydi Lalla, and Abdellah Fakhar.

Qotbi and Moroccan ambassador to the Netherlands Mohamed Basri launched the exhibition on Thursday evening in the presence of artists and visitors.

Abdelkader Benali, the exhibition’s curator, noted that the event introduces the Dutch public to internationally renowned Moroccan artists, adding that the selection of artworks was not easy.

”We have selected paintings and creations by both pioneering artists and others from the new school to show this continuity of Moroccan art,” he explained. The artists’ “themes touch on a wide spectrum of influences and inspirations.”

Stefan van Raay, Director of the Cobra Museum of Modern Art, further noted the “versatile, fresh, young, and ancestral” Moroccan art, highlighting the cultural contribution of Moroccan-Dutch writers, artists, stylists, and directors.

President Qotbi further recalled a similar event that took place in the Reina Sofia museum in Madrid. Titled “Moroccan Trilogy 1950-2020,” the exhibition lasted from March 21 to September 27, 2021.

“We are also preparing a major exhibition of the common archaeological heritage with Spain on May 24,” he added.

In partnership with the Cobra museum, FNM will host “A Multi-headed Snake” exhibition at Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. Scheduled for 2023, the event will display artwork belonging to the Dutch museum.