In the memory of 'El Fida'
In 2019, the observatory workshop in Casablanca launched a call for projects concerning the Casablanca Collective Museum, the call was addressed to artists, researchers, thinkers who wish to participate in the effort to collect and reactivate neighborhood memories through research and/or artistic production.
I had always dreamed of working on the memory of my native neighborhood. El Fida Derb Sultan is one of the oldest districts of the city, the project was accepted, and had a production grant and support.
At the time, El Fida was the Broadway avenue of Casablanca, with its cinemas, cafes, and squares, but today we have lost all of this identity.
This research, which aims to revive the memory of El Fida, was based on archival research, documents and photographs and on the production of models and graphic elements.
The project is structured around three axes: spaces, events and figures.
It's a work that lasted around 9 months, after the phase of research and meetings, I ended with the production phase, of a series of exhibitions and plates which brings together the entire synthesis of the work, then models of old emblematic buildings, which have disappeared.
About the collective museum:
The Collective Museum is a citizen museum which results from research, collection and creation work carried out collectively with the inhabitants of Casablanca neighborhoods. It takes the form of a series of art and research projects, workshops, meetings and temporary exhibitions in several districts of the city before its installation in a public space.
