The agreement builds on their existing partnership and follows Legendre’s first visit to Morocco this summer as president of the Arab World Institute, a leading French institution for cultural diplomacy.
Speaking to Maghreb Arab Press (MAP), Legendre said the visit gave her the opportunity to tour several Moroccan museums and identify new areas of cooperation. The two sides agreed to organize traveling exhibitions, including the Arab World Institute’s upcoming exhibition on the secrets of the Alhambra and a photography exhibition dedicated to Palestine.
Read also : Morocco’s National Foundation of Museums and Tokyo National Museum sign cooperation agreement
The partnership comes as the institute seeks to deepen its ties with Morocco, Legendre said.
She highlighted the “wonderful new photography museum in Casablanca” and said closer cooperation with Moroccan museums would be important as the Arab World Institute works to “re-establish and redesign” its own museum. Potential areas include photography, Islamic art and contemporary art.
Legendre said Morocco now has a “very impressive” number of cultural institutions with which the institute wants to cooperate.
She attributed this to a “long-term, forward-looking policy that has made culture a key pillar of Morocco’s development by giving a central place to cultural and creative industries,” adding that the institute wants to support this momentum.
“We want to work with all these institutions that today showcase the richness of Morocco’s heritage, as well as the vitality of its contemporary creativity,” she said.
Qotbi, for his part, thanked the Arab World Institute for its support, particularly in organizing a major exhibition on Palestine following the one hosted at its Paris headquarters. He said the new agreement would further strengthen cooperation between the two institutions.
He also noted that Legendre’s recent visit to Morocco sent “a message of friendship and encouragement to our museums.”
Qotbi described Morocco’s museum development as “the result of the forward-looking vision of King Mohammed VI,” which has helped give Moroccans greater access to their heritage and history through museums.
Read also : National Museums Foundation study identifies training needs in museum and heritage fields
The agreement was signed as the Arab World Institute opened its “Long Live the Bride” exhibition, launching its autumn cultural program.
Running through February 29, 2027, the exhibition explores marriage traditions across the Arab world and features a significant Moroccan component, including artifacts, jewelry and traditional wedding clothing from heritage collections, alongside contemporary artists’ interpretations of these traditions.
Legendre described the occasion as “a day filled with achievements on two fronts,” highlighting both the new agreement and the institute’s existing cooperation with Morocco and its museums. The National Foundation of Museums provided a collection of wedding clothing and jewelry for the exhibition, which forms one of its main components.
