A museum for the Jewish memory of the North

TANGIERS finally has a space to remember its Jewish history. The Assayag Synagogue, one of the oldest in this city, has been restored, and a museum space was inaugurated there last week. The project was led by the Agency for the Promotion and Development of the North (APDN), the wilaya of Tangiers-Tetouan-Al Hoceïma, and the Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication.

The cost of the works has reached 2 million Dirhams (about 200.000 USD) financed by the Ministry of Culture. The building located at Petit Socco, in the heart of the medina of Tangiers, dates back more than a century and has been abandoned for about sixty years. In parallel with the rehabilitation work of the synagogue, the committee of the Jewish community of Tangiers is committed to financing and carrying out the scenography work and the museum space “Beit Yehouda”  for the preservation and promotion of the cultural heritage that is specific to the Jews established in the North of Morocco.

The museum houses 3 exhibition halls, as well as corridors around the patio of the synagogue, and a souvenir shop. There are also plans to create a study and research center dedicated to Sephardic Judaism in northern Morocco. It should be remembered that this rehabilitation project is part of the royal vision which encourages the restoration of all places of worship, considered as spaces for cultural dialogue, and falls within the framework of the rehabilitation project of the medina of Tangiers.

Not far from there, as a witness to the contemporary history of Tangiers, Dar Niaba has been transformed into an artist’s house. Located in the heart of the medina of Tangiers, this project aims to provide young people and artists with an open place for creation, exchange, and learning. The rehabilitation of the building required the mobilization of a total amount of 14 million MAD (1.4 million USD)  for the identical renovation of built spaces and for scenography work.

The new configuration of Dar Niaba offers a cultural space, over a total area of 1,841 sqm, housing a multipurpose room, exhibition halls, workshops for painting and photography, the treatment of works, sculpture, and ceramics, in addition to ancillary spaces such as a cafeteria. The management of the artist’s house has been delegated to the National Foundation of Museums of Morocco.

Ali ABJIOU