CULT-01
System
Festival International de Merzouga des Musiques du Monde
Type
Transnational Cultural Platform
Domain
Cultural Systems · Transnational Artistic Exchange · Festival Production
Year
2014-2018
Location
Morocco / Sahel Region
The Merzouga region sits at the historical crossroads of trans-Saharan trade routes connecting North Africa with Sahelian cultural and economic networks. // Cultural production across regions often remains disconnected from its historical, artistic, and economic continuities.
Transnational exchanges exist, but lack sustained structures for collaboration, production, and cultural development. // Cultural production across regions often lacks sustained structures linking artistic creation, historical continuity, and institutional collaboration.
Structural Gap
The cultural history and artistic exchanges of the region had largely disappeared from contemporary institutional and international cultural platforms. // The absence of infrastructure linking artistic production, regional histories, and institutional actors limits the continuity and evolution of cultural ecosystems. // The absence of transnational infrastructure limits the activation of cultural networks and the continuity of artistic production across regions.
Intervention
The festival was conceived as a transnational cultural platform reconnecting artistic traditions, regional histories, and contemporary cultural production across North Africa and the Sahel.
The project combined international festival production, cultural diplomacy, and structural development of a long-term artistic exchange infrastructure. /// The Festival International de Merzouga was developed as a transnational cultural platform combining artistic production, cultural exchange, and ecosystem activation.
It operated across North Africa and the Sahel, aligning artists, institutions, and local contexts while producing original work and facilitating cross-regional collaboration. // The Festival International de Merzouga was developed as a transnational cultural platform combining artistic production, network activation, and infrastructure development.
It aligned artists, institutions, and local contexts across North Africa and the Sahel, while producing original work and enabling cross-regional collaboration.
Outcome
Creation of a large-scale cultural event bringing together international artists, institutions, and regional partners while reactivating historical cultural connections across the trans-Saharan region. // Activation of a cultural network reconnecting artistic production, regional identity, and international exchange, while establishing a foundation for sustained transnational collaboration. // Activation of a transnational cultural network and establishment of a structural foundation for ongoing artistic exchange and production across the region.