Craftsmen return to class | L’Economiste

Craftsmen from different regions received training on Jewish art and worship objects. Initiated by the Mimouna association, the Ministry of Tourism and Handicrafts, the Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity, and the Chamber of Crafts of the Fez – Meknes region, this operation gave birth to a traveling exhibition under the theme “Craftsmen tell you eve­rything about our Jewish heritage”. Indeed, this exhibition made its first stop in the city of Fez from June 21 to 25, 2022 at the Center for Training and Qualification in Craft Trades of the Mohammed V Foundation. The partners of this training wish to per­petuate the knowledge relating to design objects related to Jewish art and worship. To achieve this, a trai­ning cycle was offered to a group of craftsmen from the cities of Fez, Rabat, Salé, Sefrou, Meknès, Safi and Essaouira. “This is a first in Mo­rocco”, said Abderrahim Belkhayat, Regional Director of Handicrafts, adding that “this kind of training tar­gets several social, heritage-related, and economic ambitions”.

The first part of this training involves the transmission to craftsmen of ancestral knowledge linked to the Jewish Moroccan heritage, which would ensure their integration into an economic momentum. In terms of culture and heritage, this training offered both a new look and conti­nuity to Jewish Moroccan design. It also tends to safeguard crafts that are endangered. From the economic standpoint, thanks to this initiative, craftsmen could design a product sui­table for Moroccan Jews and Jewish tourists, in addition to having access to a new international market by a search of orders to be met.

This could ensure the sustainability of the craftsmen’s knowledge and of their professions. “It’s a proac­tive and motivated approach which marks the history of our Judeo-Mo­roccan heritage and which aims at the preservation of such a heritage, as well as the valorization of this an­cestral intangible know-how”, notes Belkhayat. It should be noted that the training as well as the follow-up was provided by Devorah Michael, expert in Judaica objects from New York, Meriam Ghandi, Moroccan ar­chitect and designer, expert in design related to Moroccan craftsmanship, and Zhor Rhihel, the curator of the Jewish Museum of Casablanca. The three trainers gave several presen­tations on Jewish holidays, Judaica items, as well as new design trends in the field of crafts. After a continuous supervision of several months, and follow-up and support provided to the partners, the craftsmen expressed their interest for this subject by the creation of Jewish handicrafts with a Moroccan identity. In the end, this production gave birth to a collection of interesting, curious, and emotio­nally unifying objects. An approach that all the partners wanted to cele­brate and share by organizing a trave­ling exhibition to be discovered from June 20, 2022.

Common heritage

Mimouna is a non-profit cultu­ral association. Created in 2007 in Ifrane on the initiative of young Muslim students wishing to promote and preserve the Judeo-Moroccan heritage, the association has since extended its activities to the natio­nal level, the aim being to engage dynamically in the education of Mo­roccan youth to Moroccan Jewish heritage. The name “Mimouna” symbolizes a heritage that is com­mon to all Moroccans. Traditionally celebrated at the end of Passover, the Jewish version of Easter, the Mimouna is a typical holiday for the Jews of Morocco. Jewish families invite their Muslim neighbors who, among other things, bring bread to join in the festivities. One of the founding principles of the Mimouna association, as a civic and patriotic association, is to preserve and streng­then the plural Moroccan identity.

Youness SAAD ALAMI