Casablanca - Marrakech is going international once again— According to Public Radio International (PRI), Morocco’s Southern Pearl will be home to the world’s largest museum devoted to photography and visual arts.
According to Karen Ruimy, an international Moroccan singer, performer and author, the news about the museum initiative has created a buzz in Marrakech and cheered its residents, especially the young generation.
"The reaction from the young generation is amazing," Ruimy told PRI. "They are very hungry for any opening of an institution that's going to bring art to them, because art means freedom of expression."
Ruimy is one of the Moroccan celebrities who are providing some of the financing for the construction of the museum.
To draw attention to this new, majestic cultural institution, the Red City hosted an event that brought together a number of famous photographers to spend a week in Marrakech and share their experience in the Moroccan city.
Susan Meiselas, one of the photographers invited to the event, shared an impressive experience she had in Marrakech that changed her opinion about photography in Morocco.
Meiselas had used her imagination to check whether Moroccans had maintained the same relationship with photography, as she had realized before that most Moroccans did not like to be photographed.
To check that, she had chosen a public area in Marrakech and installed the following items: a tripod, a camera, a white sheet to reflect the light and a black cloth as the background for her photos.
Meiselas offered to take a photo of female passersby in exchange either of MAD 20 or a copy of their portrait. She was surprised to see some Moroccan women choosing to have a copy of their portrait instead of the money, and even gave her the permission to exhibit their photos.
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