In parallel of the forty five galleries program located in the Palace Es Saadi, Marrakech Art Fair promises great artistic meetings in the city thanks to video art and video artists who will be in the place of honor during this event throughout the cultural circuit. A series of round tables and conference are planned for Marrakech Art Fair visitors, in one of the most emblematic places of the city.

In particular, the fair will place a spotlight on the art of the Arabic world and Turkey’s bustling contemporary scene, with six galleries from Istanbul set to participate.

Morocco and Tunisia will be represented by 13 galleries, while works from Europe and the Middle East are also set to be displayed

A remote-control device was used to detonate the bomb in Marrakesh that killed at least 16 people, a Moroccan minister has said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. But a video posted on the internet three days before the bombing and attributed to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) included a threat to Morocco.
 
According to a witness  the injured were mostly tourists, judging by what they were wearing.

Morocco’s interior ministry said on Thursday early evidence suggested the deadly blast in the heart of the country’s main tourist destination was a criminal act.

The interior ministry said foreigners were among the 16 people killed and 20 wounded in the blast that rocked Argana cafe in the city’s main Jamaa el-Fna square.

The square Jamaa el-Fna square is a UNESCO World Heritage site known for its snake charmers, fire breathers and old town, or medina.

“Early evidence collected at the site (of the explosion) indicates that it was a criminal act,” the ministry said in the statement carried by the official MAP news agency.

Rescuers were dispatched to the scene and an investigation was opened to provide details on the blast.

Atlas Blue was established on 28 May 2004 and started operations on 26 July 2004, with charter operations from Morocco to France using a single Boeing 737-400. Another 5 Boeing 737-400s were transferred from Royal Air Maroc to expand services to Belgium, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. Atlas Blue is owned by Royal Air Maroc (99.99%) and private investors (0.01%), and has 167 employees.

The Atlas Blue website has been shut down on since January 2010.

I would like to mantion that my first trip to this beautiful city was with Atlas & the service they offered was excellent.

http://www.marrakechfestival.com (french website)

A foretaste of the 43rd edition, a popular festival immersed in a city in celebration of 14 to 19 July 2008.

The festival covers its 43rd edition in an original format, powerful, innovative and popular. In the continuity of the 42nd edition, the next edition will preserve the popular arts in all their authenticity, will celebrate a heritage alive of inestimable value, for the sake of sharing with an audience in search of the events When popular, authentic and quality.

To announce the festival, a grand procession to the sound of traditional instruments, will help to attract and unite the local people and guests of the town red.

Stages are installed in the city, including historical places of the town red, as the Badi Palace and Dar Si-said

The official opening of the Festival will be held at the Palais Badi July 15, 2008. A magnificent spectacle, in a single framework, will stage the popular arts in a new theme. A choice to present the groups of artists and musicians in an appropriate framework. The Badi Palace, with its architecture and its prestigious public places, is the living theatre where the event takes place and where 200 000 spectators are expected each night.

A Bab Ighli from 17 to 19 July 2008, a large stage merger new generation artists and popular Moroccan renowned host more than 40 000 spectators each night.

To animate the entire city, the 2008 edition has scheduled 6 scenes in the districts of Daoudiate, Garden of the Harti, Sidi Youssef Ben Ali, M’hamid, Hey Bab El Massira and Lakhmis. These districts are colorful feast by troops traditional daily.

One of the ambitions of the festival, to revive and continue the traditions and artistic expression of Moroccan women. The 43rd edition brings honour Moroccan women with 2 evenings Dar Si Said gente devoted to women, which will unite artists and audiences purely feminine.

The festival also aims to promote culture alive through original events taking place at the Theatre Royal, such as contests (ghiyata, hanna, gnawa…) and exhibitions.

After spending as much time as you can bear in the steam room you proceed to a cooler room for a scrub with a coarse glove and black soap before being manipulated by a masseur or masseuse. Then it’s time for some quiet contemplation in the “salle de repos” (rest room). Be advised that at hammams males and females are strictly segregated and in female sections women usually go naked, but you can bring along a swimming costume if you prefer not to. Nudity in the male world is taboo, so men keep their trunks on! All Moroccan towns have hammams as do many hotels and auberges.

The best Hammam in Marrakech are:

Hamman Hilton (A gorgeous marble Turkish bath)
Targa Rd
Admission Dh30

Hammam el-Bacha (Traditional hammam in the Medina)
Rue Fatima Zohra
Admission & massage Dh30

Air fares from the UK to Morocco have been coming down a lot recently, so the difference between fares to Spain and fares to Morocco is getting less. For example, Atlas Blue(www.atlas-blue.com), which is a no frills part of Royal Air Maroc, has fares from Gatwick to Marrakech from £39 one way (tax included). Easyjet (www.easyjet.com) also from about £100. And the traditional carrier’s fares have fallen too, with British Airways (0870 9508950, www.ba.com) flying to Agadir, Fez, Marrakech, and Casablanca, with fares from about £200. Or try Royal Air Maroc (020 7307 5800, www.royalairmaroc.com).

Costs aside though, crossing from Spain to Africa is a great way to begin a Moroccan adventure, and there are several companies that run sailings.

FRS (00 34 956 68 183, www.frs.es) sails to Tangier from Gibraltar, Algeciras (25 kilometres from Gibraltar), and Tarifa (46 kilometres from Gibraltar). Its ‘InCat’ is as fast catamaran style of vessel that sails from Tarifa to Tangier in just 35 minutes. Fares are from £35 return.

Alternatively, Euro Ferries (0034 956652324, www.euroferries.com) cross from Almeria to Nador; Algeciras to Ceuta; and Algeciras to Tangier. Or try Comarit Espana (www.comarit.com) or Ferri Maroc (book in Almeria on 00 34 9 50 274800, www.ferrimaroc.com).

Tangiers is an interesting place to holiday, but it also has good transport links south to Fez and Marrakech. An especially good way to get to Marrakech is by train, operated by the efficient state railways company. Entering Morocco via Ceuta or Nador is slightly more tricky, in that they are smaller towns with little tourist infrastructure and fewer transport links.

For more information, call the Moroccan National Tourist office on 020 7437 0073, or visit www.visitmorocco.com

Morocco’s middle classes opt in to western consumerism

And it is still a very attractive city, albeit a modern one, with ATM machines, McDonalds and other western chain stores springing up almost daily.

Rabat’s inhabitants are as attractive and sophisticated as the city itself, and they know it.

Anyone foolish enough to be outside in the midday sun will find themselves jostling for a space on the shady side of the street with Rabat’s well-to-do classes, as they stroll self-assuredly to work.

Poor cousin

It is not unusual in Rabat to see a Moroccan man wearing an American baseball cap and shorts, while his wife accompanies him wearing a traditional gown or “djellaba”, with the hood up.

Morocco is rife with contradictions.

Moroccan women are still seen in their traditional attire in modern Rabat

In Rabat the smell of expensive aftershave is carried on the warm breeze, but when the wind blows in Sale, you may even catch a whiff of hashish.

Sale, separated from Rabat only by a narrow river, is the poor cousin of the thriving capital, and much more indicative of the state of many towns in Morocco.

It is from suburbs like Sale, with high unemployment and low development, that Casablanca’s suicide bombers came from.

Fundamentalism

They were dissatisfied young men, with nothing to do, watching as Morocco’s middle classes opt in to western consumerism.

Places like this are a breeding ground for Muslim fundamentalism, which has taken root here over the last 30 years.

The Moroccan authorities are actively cracking down on anyone seen as too radical a follower of Islam.

And while an Islamic party did better in recent elections than ever before, the king did not appoint any of its members into his cabinet.

‘Westernised’

The official line is that fundamentalism is an imported phenomenon, brought over by hotheads from Saudi Arabia.

But many Moroccans I have spoken to say privately that they feel something is going wrong.

Moroccan authorities are cracking down on radical followers of Islam

“We have parroted the ways of the West, dressing like Westerners, worshipping money like Westerners, but without getting any of the development that goes with it,” one woman told me.

And many Moroccans identify with what they see as the suffering of their Palestinian brothers at the hands of Israel and America.

Morocco may be part of Africa – and sometimes uncomfortably close to Europe – but it is also part of the Arab story.

And now it would seem it is stuck between a rock and hard place.