Museum at berth brings culture to Moroccan audiences

From October 11 to October 17, the Art Explora Foundation, in partnership with the Louvre Museum and the Pompidou Centre in Paris organized a traveling festival to bring art to a Moroccan audience.

A digital version of The Mona Lisa by DaVinci was among works on display at the Art Explora Festival.

On a tour around the Mediterranean, a museum boat of artworks was moored at the Bouregreg quay, bringing the festival to the Moroccan capital.

The event featured exhibitions on various themes related to human interactions with the sea and Mediterranean cultural exchanges.

It was expected to attract up to 2,000 visitors per day.

"The idea of roaming and free access is to offer culture to as many people as possible. The goal and objective of this type of project is precisely to promote culture, whether local or international, to the public who do not usually have access to it," Salma Bensouda who coordinates the Morocco stopovers for Art Explora Foundation said on October 12.

Basma is among Rabat residents who embarked on the museum boat: "This kind of museum that's in boats is a very refreshing concept. It's also very new here in Morocco. We don't get to see it often. It's very visually pleasing and it also gives us a very good view on the Mediterranean life," she said.

The museum boat measures 47 meters in length, 18 meters in width, and features a 55-meter mast with sails.

To explore the boat, attendees enter in groups of 20 to 30 and have 45 minutes.

The Art Explora Festival was inaugurated in Marseille, southern France in June.

The festival hosts more than 30 artists, including several who contribute to a dynamic and diverse range of expressions in contemporary global art.

The festival which is a first aims to visit a total of 20 ports across 15 countries in the Mediterranean by the end of 2026, organizers say.