Cultural production and cultural patronage in Morocco: the state, the Islamists, and the field of culture

Abstract

This article analyses patronage as the context and framework for the functioning of cultural production in postcolonial Morocco. In particular, it focuses on the ideological and the political underpinnings of different state patronage schemes before and in the aftermath of the Arab Spring and the accession to government of the Islamist Party of Justice and Development (PJD). The argument is that the power struggle between the state (spearheaded by the monarchy) and the PJD translates in the field of culture into a debate about al-fān anādhīf (‘clean art’) versus obscurantism. While the PJD activists proclaim al-fān anādhīf as the conceptual framework for assessing art and cultural production, their secular opponents accuse them of plotting to curb creative freedom and institutionalize an obscurantist cultural project. The article discusses the ambivalent relationship between cultural workers and state institutions, contextualizes the politics of state patronage as it relates to music festivals and film, highlights a sample of alternative forms of patronage, and reflects on the future of cultural production in the post-Arab Spring environment.

ملخصتتناول هذه الورقة مسألة الرعاية باعتبارها سياقا وإطارا لاشتغال الإنتاج الثقافي في مغرب ما بعد الكولونيالية. وتركز بالخصوص على الأسس الإيديولوجية والسياسية لمختلف مشاريع الرعاية التي تدعمها الدولة في فترة ما ما قبل و ما بعد الربيع العربي ودخول حزب العدالة والتنمية للحكومة. وتدافع الورقة على الأطروحة التالية وهي أن صراع السلطة بين الدولة بزعامة الملكية والإسلاميين بقيادة حزب العدالة والتنمية تتم ترجمتها في الحقل الثقافي من خلال التقاطب الذي يحصل بخصوص الفن النظيف والظلامية. فبينما يسعى الإسلاميون إلى إشاعة مفهوم الفن النظيف كإطار لتقييم الإنتاج الثقافي، يتهمهم خصومهم بالعمل على تقويض حرية الإبداع والعمل على مأسسة مشروع ثقافي ظلامي. وتناقش الورقة كذلك العلاقة الملتبسة بين العاملين في الحقل الثقافي ومؤسسات الدولة، وتقف عند سياقات سياسة رعاية الدولة في علاقتها بمهرجانات الموسيقى والسينما، وتتطرق إلى نماذج من أشكال الرعاية البديلة مع إبداء بعض الملاحظات بخصوص مستقبل الإنتاج الثقافي في أجواء ما بعد الربيع العربي.‏

Keywords:

• Morocco
• cultural patronage
• party of justice and development
• Moroccan state
• clean art

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Karima Laachir, the editor, and the anonymous reviewers for their feedback on earlier versions of this article.

Notes

Souffles was banned in 1971 when its founder and director Abdellatif Laabi was arrested. While the magazine started as a forum for the articulation of alternative aesthetic and artistic expression, it later turned into an ideological platform for the revolutionaries of the Marxist movement ila al amam. In the course of its short lifespan, 22 issues were published. Souffles had an international reach since it appealed to contributors from the Maghreb, Africa, and the rest of the Arab world. The 22 issues of Souffles are available online through the website of Abdellatif Laabi: http://www.laabi.net/.

A case in point is France, where the state makes use of various schemes to support cultural workers and works deemed to best represent French cultural heritage. Besides the setting up of enormous establishments like The Centre Pompidou, the Opera, and the Louvre, the French state also deploys various other schemes like the CNAP (National Centre for Plastic Art) and the FNAC (Regional Fund for Contemporary Art) to encourage artists, sculptors, photographers, and designers. It is also worth remembering that France successfully led Europe's coalition during the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations and managed to negotiate special status for cultural commodities which protected European cultural production from the hegemony of the US and Canadian culture industries.

In fiscal year 2011, 0.3% of the general budget of the state allotted to the Ministry of Culture totalled 320 million dirhams, which was about US$37 million, an amount that included the salaries of the ministerial staff.

See the link below to the Facebook page of the second edition of the Festival of Resistance and Alternatives for sample pictures of indoor and outdoor cultural activities organized by ‘Occupy LBAYT LABIAD’: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.510346349006406.108356.328988513808858&type=3.

The Facebook page of the festival can be accessed at: https://www.facebook.com/FRA.RABAT.

As posted on the movement's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GuerrillaCinema/info.

As posted on the forum's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GuerrillaCinema/info.