Dutch-Moroccan Museum Collaboration

Together with the Reinwardt Academy, the Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE) has extensive experience for museum professionals in setting up exchange and capacity-building projects in various countries of international cultural policy, including China, Indonesia, Russia, Egypt and South Africa. At the beginning of April, after years of preparatory work by, among others, Morocco adviser to DutchCulture Myriam Sahraoui, the very first inception mission took place in Morocco.

Representatives of the Reinwardt Academy, the Cultural Heritage Agency, DutchCulture and the Dutch Embassy in Rabat visited various museums and met with museum professionals to identify the needs for such a programme. The Moroccan partner, la Fondation Nationale des Musées du Maroc, aims to modernise the museum world in Morocco according to the applicable international standards, and to create museums that present the "Moroccan heritage to the Moroccan people and the world".

The visit to the various old and new museums in Rabat, Meknès, Fes and Tangier gave an idea of the opportunities and challenges for cooperation. After the visit to Morocco, representatives of La Fondation Nationale des Musées came to the Netherlands as part of a DutchCulture visitors programme, where they visited various Dutch museums and institutions. As a result of these two visits, a plan is being drawn up for a training and exchange week for Moroccan museum professionals in Amsterdam and Rabat in December and for collaboration after this pilot year.