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Art, self-censorship, and public discourse: contemporary Moroccan artists at the crossroads

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Abstract

Since the reign of King Mohammed VI in 1999, there has been a recent democratic trend in Morocco that has led to political liberalization and symbolic concessions. This essay explores how a new generation of artists is beginning to test the notions of the Islam, the monarch, and the rights of ethnic groups and women within Morocco. I argue that while they are beginning to test the limits of recent religious, social, and political reforms, these artists show self-restrain and selfcensorship, creating art that falls within the public discourse allowed by the new Moroccan king.

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Notes

  1. See Susan Slymovics. 136. She notes these figures are in dispute and many assert that the majority of Moroccans speak Tamazight as their first language.

  2. The Tifinagh script is used today primarily by Tuareg women and blacksmiths to write short intimate messages on household objects and jewelry. The Tuareg are an Amazigh population who live in the Saharan and Sahalean regions of Mali, Algeria, Libya, Burkina Faso, and Niger. It is believed that all Imazighen used Tifinagh in the past, but the Tuareg, the least Arabized of all the Imazighen in Africa, are the only Amazigh group to have retained a written language. Tifinagh letters consist of circles and geometric forms reminiscent of Amazigh women’s textile and tattoo motifs.

  3. Farid Belkahia, interview by author, Marrakech, Morocco, 6 June 2004.

  4. Abdullah Aourik, interview by author, Agadir, Morocco, June 30, 2004.

  5. Younès Rahmoun, interview by author, Tetouan, Morocco, June 2006.

  6. Mahi Binebine, interview by author, Marrakech, July 2006.

  7. Mahi Binebine, interview by author, Marrakech, Morocco, July 2006.

  8. Farid Belkahia, interview by author, Marrakech, June 6, 2004.

  9. The laws were not ratified until 2004.

  10. Lalla Essaydi, interview by author, Boston, 2003.

  11. Fatima and her brother spell their family name differently.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Art History, Boston University, 725 Commonwealth Avenue, room 302, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Cynthia J. Becker

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  1. Cynthia J. Becker
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Correspondence to Cynthia J. Becker.

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Becker, C.J. Art, self-censorship, and public discourse: contemporary Moroccan artists at the crossroads. Cont Islam 3, 143–166 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-009-0085-z

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