Morocco
Art treasures from Moroccan museums
De Nieuwe Kerk opens commemorative year
In the winter of 2004/2005 De Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam will organise 'Morocco', a major exhibition with masterpieces from Moroccan museums and libraries. The exhibition, which opens on 17 December 2004, will also be the start of the celebrations in 2005 to mark 400 years of relations between Morocco and the Netherlands.
For this unusual exhibition De Nieuwe Kerk has concluded an agreement with the Moroccan Ministry of Culture which provides for the participation of museums from Rabat, Tangier, Marrakech, Tétouan, Fès, Meknès, Larache, Laâyoune, and Essaouira, the Volubilis excavation and the Royal and National Libraries. Together these institutions will loan more than 300 outstanding works to De Nieuwe Kerk. The exhibition will run from 17 December 2004 to 17 April 2005.
The exhibition at De Nieuwe Kerk is arranged both chronologically and thematically. It begins with Morocco before Islam, with remarkable objects thousands of years old, Phoenician and Carthaginian jewellery, and spectacular bronzes from the period of Roman rule found at archaeological sites such as Lixus and Volubilis.
The section dealing with Morocco after the advent of Islam covers such topics as intellectual life (with manuscripts and astrolabes), the coexistence of Jews, Christians and Muslims, and culture and ethnography (the court, celebrations, traditional life, etc.). On display here are the finest examples of Moroccan decorative arts: the famous earthenware, delicate wood carving on doors, furniture and windows, sumptuous carpets and unique jewellery and costumes.
The patrons of the exhibition are His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco and His Royal Highness the Prince of Orange.
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