On Sunday 4th June 2023, the Council for the Moroccan Community Abroad (CCME) organized a round-table at the Rabat Book Fair on "Moroccan genius in architecture, sociology and thought". Mr. Boujemaa El AOUFI, university professor, writer and poet, and Mr. Mohammed CHEIKH, professor, answered questions from Ms Jamila TILOUT, professor at Mohammed V University in Rabat.
Boujemaa El Aoufi: Moroccan culture, from local to international
For Boujemaa El Aoufi, member of the scientific committee for the publication of the encyclopaedia of Moroccan civilization, this achievement "is a scientific argument for pride in belonging to this exceptional country, which will provide Moroccans from from all over the world with tools for effective advocacy of Moroccan culture in general and national causes in particular".
"The broad horizons of our civilization enable us to interact with anyone in the world and about anything that has to do with culture and thought, but also and above all in terms of universal values and good manners", explains Ms El AOUFI, adding that "Moroccan culture, in its thinking, is a pioneering culture in the Arab-Muslim world”.
It's a universal culture because it's an open, authentic and modern culture, a culture of interaction whose watchword is cultural fructification".
Mohammed Cheikh: Morocco’s history and its interaction with different civilizations
For his part, Mohammed Cheikh says:” Morocco’s diversity is a unique asset from the perspective of identity, "a land of encounters, where all cultures, religions and civilizations have coexisted peacefully for centuries, and even thousands of years according to the archaeological discovery of 300,000-year-old homo sapiens in Morocco.
In his paper on Amazigh history, published in the encyclopaedia of Moroccan civilization, Mohamed Cheikh explains how the "Amazigh culture, which has been present in Morocco since 110 BC, is a testimony to the resistance of identity, to the fact that the core of our culture has not broken down or been challenged by other cultures, but rather has welcomed them and interacted with them".
An interaction that is also illustrated by "Morocco's architectural heritage, which shows the sophistication and dynamism of our culture; that we have never had a generational conflict and have always been able to pass on our values in a way that is smooth, consistent, stable and peaceful".
The researcher goes on to say that "the marks of colonialism explain why Morocco has been a kind of laboratory for architectural experimentation".
CCME