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50 years of Moroccan Immigration in Belgium

Thursday, 13 November 2014

A Moroccan Cultural Week will be held from 22 to 28 November 2014 in Brussels as part of the celebration of 50 years of Moroccan immigration in Belgium.

The event is a partnership between the agency Wallonie-Bruxelles International and Espace Magh. It aims to showcase the vibrancy of the Moroccan culture and is an opportunity to strengthen ties between Belgium (especially Brussels and Wallonia) and Morocco.

The espace Magh will host on November 22, a play in Moroccan dialect called "Al Assass" (the Guardian). The piece is composed of three stories told by three actors interpreting a school custodian, a guardian of property and guardian of cars.

The second highlight of this week will be dedicated exclusively to film. From November 26 to 28, movie lovers will have an appointment with a new edition of the festival "Film Youth", which will be devoted to short and medium-length films that have been made on the occasion of 50 years of Moroccan immigration in the season 2013-2014.

To close this week, a panel discussion focused on "the Moroccan film production and taboos" will bring together actors, directors, journalists and film critics. The meeting will be preceded by a screening of the film "Closed Door" by Abdelkader Lagtaa, released in 1985.

After this cultural week, Espace Magh will house on December 12th, still under the same theme of Moroccan immigration in Belgium, a scientific symposium on the North African migration.

It will discuss "the social science research on human exchanges between Belgium, Europe and North Africa in regards to the challenge of building a space of cooperation, innovation and free flow of knowledge between the two shores of the Mediterranean. "

Throughout 2014, which marks the 50th anniversary of signing an agreement between Brussels and Rabat for the recruitment of Moroccan labor (February 17, 1964), Belgium highlights half a century of Moroccan presence on its soil. This is a major work of memory that will be implemented. Whether it's theater, dance, music, literature, audiovisual, multimedia or entertainment, all forms of art will be put to use to trace fragments of the lives of men and women of this community.

A section on the work of retrospective and recognition is also scheduled. Debates bringing together intellectuals, politicians, artists, writers, filmmakers, or son of immigrants, symbols of success and integration will be organized around issues related to the contribution of the Moroccan culture in Belgium and the integration of the Moroccan community in the Belgian society as well as on the notion of citizenship.

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