Art Moves Africa – Retracing Roots and Tracing New Routes: Mobility and Touring in North Africa

82
Country-Specific Information
—
IMPEDIMENTS
—
Visas
· Several respondents noted the dramatic difficulty
of obtaining visas to Schengen Europe:
long processing times, bureaucratic demands,
frequent refusals and, in the event that the
visa is granted, it is often for a pitifully short
number of days.
· Travel times to embassies in Rabat were also
noted as a reason for frustration.
· Travel to Egypt was noted as a growing area
of difficulty.
It’s become very difficult for young artists to enter
Schengen Europe. Things miraculously get much
simpler when their artistic project is backed by
a European state institution or when that institution
takes ownership of the project. – Maria Daïf,
independent cultural operator, Casablanca*
Morocco / Algeria (see Algeria section)
Neocolonialism / paternalism
· Several respondents expressed the wish to
have mobility opportunities outside of Europe,
in light of old colonial/paternalistic relationships
between France and Morocco and especially
in light of their exacerbation in the form of visa
policy.
There is the legacy of colonialism – especially
French – that we’d like to detach from. For example,
the Moroccan administrative system is
partly modelled on the French system. We’d like
to create our own models of development, our
own way of doing things that fits our local reality. –
Amina Mourid, Cultural operator, co-founder,
Atelier Kissaria & Think Tanger*
Geographic isolation
· Several respondents noted Morocco’s geographical
isolation as an impediment to mobility:
with the Algerian border closed and the
gates of Europe blocked to the North, Morocco
is enclaved. To the South, Morocco controls
the border with the portion of Western Sahara
that is under Moroccan occupation.
—
M
O
R
O
C
C
O
—
· Morocco’s distance from the Middle East disconnects
it from the lively scene and networks
operating in hubs such as Beirut, Amman,
Ramallah and Cairo.
Restrictions on freedom of expression
· Civil society associations are active but remain
subject to legal harassment, travel restrictions,
and other forms of repression.
· For example, an important signpost was the
December 26 dissolution of cultural organization
Racines, on charges of organizing an
activity outside its scope of action and hosting
a debate that was “prejudicial to the country’s
institutions.”
Language:
· Moroccan artists applying for funding may find
themselves restricted by language barriers.
There’s a linguistic conflict when it comes to [application]
forms : Classical Arabic is intimidating
and more and more young people are rejecting
French. English needs to be more present if the
goal is to reach young people. – Maria Daïf*
Lack of identification to Africa and racism
· Moroccans have had an uneasy relationship
with Africa, which can express itself in racism.
Pan-Arabism somewhat squandered African
identity; it has left Moroccans with a sense of non-
African-ness as well as a form of self-denigration
towards their own popular culture, whereas the
social reality is that Africa begins in Tangiers and
ends in Cape Town. It’s really in the head that it
happens. There is also the question of Berberity
here, because that is what carries Africanness.
Berberity is extraordinarily diverse. It’s a huge
subject. – Hicham Bahou, Co-director of EAC-
L’Boulvard, Casablanca*
Morocco’s migratory policy is geared at integration;
it is taking in refugees, people in transit,
who are fleeing difficult realities. Socially, it’s
creating a lot of incomprehension, questioning,
in which culture is not playing the role it should.
Culture is supposed to be the cement for all
these populations: we’re completely African in
our musical and cultural heritage. – Ghita Kaldi,
Director of Afrikayna, Casablanca*