Al Hoceima Museum: For the Rif region, enriching Morocco's history and the common Moroccan memory

As part of the implementation of the strategy of the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) regarding the follow-up of the implementation of the recommendations of the Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER) in its section related to preserving memory, Ms. Amina Bouayach, CNDH Chairperson, held a meeting with partners working on the establishment of the Al Hoceima Museum on Thursday morning, October 15, 2020, at the headquarters of the CNDH. This meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Culture, the Head of the Municipal Council of Al Hoceima, and the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Region, as well as the Architectural Office in charge of implementing this project.

This meeting is part of the new process of the establishment of the Al Hoceima Museum and its acceleration, following the submission of the proposals request related to the museum study on its establishment.

Ms. Bouayach declares that the CNDH aspires to the Al Hoceima Museum to be a model to the rest of Morocco and to represent a pillar and depth of the Moroccan memory with its economic, cultural, and environmental manifestations by appreciating the tangible and intangible components of the Rif region. The CNDH wishes that the establishment of the Al Hoceima Museum will enhance interest in the memory of this region (study and documentation), considering that it is one of the building blocks that enrich Morocco's history and its common memory. The memory is a light and an understanding of past events. It is a light that illuminates the future and inspires best practices at all levels, she added.

The next steps to complete this project are mainly: the elaboration of scenographic and museum studies on the preparation and rehabilitation of the building; starting conditioning work, technical settlement and furnishing works; and starting researches and acquisition of the main exhibition supports (collections of antiques, heritage materials, etc.);…

In addition to following up on the implementation of the recommendations of the IER, the philosophy of the establishment of the Al Hoceima Museum is part of the constitutional requirements that His Majesty King Mohammed VI summarized in his speech in the Meeting of the International Council in 2011. The King of Morocco stressed the need to preserve the Moroccan collective memory as a fundamental building block to complete the structure of a democratic society, to strengthen Moroccans' reconciliation with their history, and to overcome the previous flaws to immune their present.

To be noted, the two partnership agreements were signed in 2019: the first one with the Regional Council of Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima and the Ministry of Culture, and the second with the Municipal Council of Al Hoceima as part of the project to establish the Al Hoceima Museum.