After two years of absence due to the health crisis, this 26th edition of the Fez World Sacred Music Festival will be held from June 9 to 12, 2022 in a shorter version. Its programming is already a success given the restrictions still in force around the world.
In front of an audience of eminent personalities from the world of politics, culture and the arts, as well as religious representatives, associative actors and journalists, the presentation began with notes from the qanum and the oud accompanying the voice of the artist Naziha Miftah, before the president of the Fez Foundation unveils the theme of this 2022 edition “Architecture and the Sacred”.
Welcoming with emotion “this reunion”, the president of the Esprit de Fès Foundation indicated that it “was made possible thanks to the success of the vaccination campaign and the mobilization of all”.
In a world shaken by crises and identity tensions, the Fez Festival of Sacred Music of the World is “a privileged moment of dialogue between cultures, religions and openness to others”.
“These values are at the heart of our humanity and must be defended, especially in this context of crisis”, recalled Mr. Zouitene.
“In these times of reconstruction, of renewal, we have chosen to center the festival around the theme: architecture and the sacred”.
This theme will be an opportunity to explore how men of all faiths have expressed their quest for the sacred through architecture, he continued.
“Morocco, one of the oldest kingdoms in the world, perfectly embodies this philosophy. Its history is marked by the construction of magnificent places of worship and knowledge such as the Great Hassan II Mosque, the Quaraouiyine, the Mosque of Taza, that of Tinmel, to cite only these examples…”, underlined Mr. Zouitene
“These exceptional places have made it possible to shape this spirit of tolerance and openness characteristic of our country”, he noted, indicating that “during the restoration of the Slat El Fassiyine synagogue in Fez, the message of HM the King was a superb illustration of the spirit of tolerance so dear to our country”.
The program for this edition will see the presence of artistic troupes from more than 15 countries, the Sultanate of Oman, Kazakhstan, India, France, Italy, Senegal… and many others.
The opening night is a trip from Fez to Jerusalem via Tibet, the Taj Mahal, Notre Dame de Paris cathedral to end in Casablanca with the great Hassan II mosque.
A special tribute will also be paid to the musical traditions of Fez and Meknes during an evening dedicated to Bab El Makina.
The Forum of Fez on June 11, privileged time of the Festival, will welcome several national and international speakers who will open new perspectives around the theme “Architecture and the Sacred”.
For the president of the France-Morocco friendship group in the senate, “at a time when all these crises are sweeping our continent, and when so much suffering is suffered by innocent people, this festival is a strong moment of spirituality and serenity, and above all of tolerance”.
“It is one of the characteristics of Morocco and this city of Fez, it is to see all these cultures which have crossed paths and all these civilizations which have respected each other”, he said.
“Through music, architecture and the sacred, everyone will bring their sensitivity, their perception, their feeling of peace, this is the essential work of this festival which is almost unique and which is identified in the world as being a very large event”, underlined Senator Cambon.
The French Senate “is honored to have hosted the presentation of the festival”, as well as “these musical notes which are the beginnings of what we are going to experience there”, he added.
This presentation was attended by the former Minister of Justice, Mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Paris, Mrs Rachida Dati, the Minister of Culture under government Edouard PHilippe, Françoise Nyssen, the political adviser to the Moroccan Embassy in France, Walid Remmal, renowned writer Tahar Benjelloun, senators, including Vincent Capo-Canellas, Quaestor of the Senate, Pierre Cuypers, Laure Darcos, Catherine DUMAS, Dominique Estroso Sassone, Antoine Lefèvre, Hervé Marseille, Isabelle Raimond- Pavero, as well as the president of the Protestant Federation of France, François Clavairoly, the special adviser to the Chief Rabbi of France, vice-president of the confederation of rabbis of Europe, Moché Lewin, the national chaplain of France, member of the College of the Founders Emouna-Sciences Po, Mohamed Azizi, the Secretary General of the French Federation of Moroccan Judaism, Simon Skira, Mrs. Myriam Strauss-Kahn, Vice-President of the NGO Mekkil’ which works acti ment, among other things, in education and access to culture for children in the douars of the Marrakech region, the former boss of the Accor Group, Jean-Robert Reznik and the artistic director of the festival, Bruno Messina.