The festivities celebrating “Rabat, capital of culture in the Islamic world” for 2022 were officially launched on Thursday evening during a grand ceremony organized at the Mohammed V theater in Rabat, under the high patronage of King Mohammed VI.
The kick-off of these festivities, supervised by the Organization of the Islamic World for Education, Science and Culture (ICESCO) and the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication, was given on the rhythm of the national anthem, in the presence in particular of the Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, members of the government, representatives of local authorities, elected officials, diplomats accredited in Morocco and eminent personalities from the world of culture, art, politics and the media. During this ceremony, the Director General of ICESCO, Salim bin Mohammed Al Malik, presented the banner of the celebration to the President of the Municipal Council of Rabat, Asmaa Aghlalou, thus marking the inauguration of the general program of festivities which extends throughout the year and includes various educational, scientific and cultural activities.
It was marked by poetic and musical performances by the Al Ala music group from Tetouan, led by Amine Akrami alongside soprano Samira Kadiri and artists Marouane hajji, Fouad Taibi, Abdeslam Essafiani and the young Abir Barakat. According to ICESCO, Rabat was chosen as the capital of culture, within the framework of the organization’s program of capitals of culture in the Islamic world, because of the rich cultural heritage enjoyed by this ancestral city, as well as its institutions. world culture and art.
This choice is also explained by the cultural and artistic changes that this city is experiencing in its Arab, Islamic, African and Mediterranean environment, and the urban development it has witnessed under the high royal directives, to make it a center of international cultural influence, and a cultural and tourist destination, which attracts a large number of people from inside and outside the Kingdom.
Alongside Rabat, ICESCO’s list of Capitals of Culture in the Islamic World for the year 2022 includes three other cities: Cairo (Egypt), Yaoundé (Cameroon), Bandung (Indonesia).
.