Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
Rabat – The International Book and Print Fair (SIEL), which will kick off on June 3 in Rabat, will cost an additional MAD 8 million ($807,306), provided by the Council of the Rabat-Sale-Kenitra region.
The additional cost will be added to the previous investment of MAD 12 million ($1.2 million) granted by Morocco’s Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication.
Held exceptionally in Rabat this year, the SIEL further highlights and celebrates the city’s designation as the Islamic World cultural capital for 2022, Culture Minister Mehdi Bensaid said on Friday.
As the event’s original venue in Casablanca is now operating as a hospital to accommodate COVID-19 patients, Moroccan authorities decided to hold this year’s SIEL take in the Moroccan capital from June 3 to 12.
The choice of Rabat aims to shed light on the city’s cultural assets as the city has been undergoing major development projects since 2015 as part of the “Rabat, City of Lights and Morocco’s Cultural Capital” initiative.
African literature will be in the spotlight in this year’s fair, and Bensaid said on Friday that the decision is in line with King Mohammed VI’s vision to promote south-south cooperation and Africa’s cultural heritage and values.
While pleading for the launch of a “real cultural dynamic” across Morocco, the Moroccan minister said that the 2022 book fair “is an illustration of the joint action to be undertaken to this end.”
He further told local media that “it has not yet been decided” whether next year’s SIEL will return to Casablanca, its initial host city.
With Rabat becoming a center of cultural influence at the national level, President of the Rabat-Sale-Kenitra Regional Council Rachid El Abdi has pledged to boost strategic partnerships with various stakeholders to develop the Moroccan capital’s cultural appeal, support the local art industry, and preserve the region’s cultural heritage.
Meanwhile, Cameroonian Ambassador to Morocco Mouhamadou Youssifou stressed that the 2022 SIEL “brings together different book publishing companies from Africa, the Arab region and the world as a whole.”
During a meeting, the cultural ministry and the regional council signed an agreement aimed at boosting the cultural offer of the region.
The 2021 SIEL fair was suspended due to the COVID pandemic.
Morocco’s 2020 international book fair featured 703 exhibitors, and exhibits from all over the world featured more than 100,000 works.
Read Also: Minister of Culture: Rabat Deserves To Be Cultural Capital of Islam
