chargement...
Local authorities in Tangier have halted the creation of an artistic mural on one of the facades of Coffee Cultural Cherifa in the old medina, a decision that has upset the café’s owner, Youssef Chabaa Hadri. Speaking to Yabiladi, he said the mural was to be painted by a French artist who had come voluntarily to promote the city, but was asked to stop just a few hours after starting the work.
Hadri explained that the artist had arrived in Tangier as part of an artistic tour during which he paints murals in different cities. He was drawn to another mural on the café’s facade, completed two years ago by a Dutch artist.
«The mural encouraged the artist to come into the café and discover the place. During our conversation, he told me he would like to create a new mural on the other facade, and I welcomed the idea», Hadri recalls.
The café owner, who is also a novelist, said he contacted Qaida, the local administrative authority, to inform her of the idea, adding that she initially described the project as «excellent». However, about three hours after the painting began, a moqaddem, the neighborhood administrative aide, arrived and asked the artist to stop, reportedly following the qaida’s instructions.
A mural that draws tourists
According to Hadri, the French artist had already painted murals in Fez and Essaouira during his trip to Morocco, where, he said, «everything went smoothly».
He described the decision to stop the mural as unfortunate, especially since the previous work by the Dutch artist was completed without any problems. That mural, similar to others the artist has created in more than 25 countries, has helped turn the café into a small attraction for visitors and tourists, even serving as the backdrop for a Chinese television program filmed there.
«The Dutch artist later exhibited the work in the Netherlands, which led the director of a museum there to contact me to connect with officials at the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. That eventually led to collaboration between them», Hadri shared.
The mural also helped bring foreign cultural figures to the café, including the Dutch ambassador to Morocco, and inspired a group of writers in the Netherlands to publish a book about Tangier.
The Cherifa Café is one of the historic cafés of Tangier’s medina. Hadri concluded by stressing that Tangier is a city with a strong cultural identity, adding that strengthening this role requires greater involvement from civil society in initiatives that promote the city’s cultural vitality.
