TUI Colourful Cultures Morocco
The ochre-coloured skyline and sumptuous souks make Marrakech a favourite destination for travellers from around the globe.
Hospitality provides many employment opportunities to its locals. But other industries have failed to attract talent to support their development, with the artistic sector being one of the most affected.
TUI Colourful Cultures Morocco protects local cultural heritage and empowers creatives by engaging young people with a comprehensive arts programme. The programme combines modern disciplines, including DJing, rapping, contemporary dance and street art with cultural Moroccan traditions, such as the use of Darija in texts or the inspiration of Arabic calligraphy in graffiti. It offers a mentoring programme, artist residencies and a scholarship for top performers, hosted at the Les Étoiles Jamaâ El Fna cultural centre in the heart of Marrakech’s old town.
TUI Colourful Cultures Morocco diversifies the city’s cultural offering and offers local young people more professional opportunities whilst also fostering their success in a dynamic environment. Many artistic jobs are characterised by low wages which are often insufficient to meet the needs of a family. These jobs are generally undervalued by society and rarely offer real prospects for career advancement.
The renovation of the Les Étoiles Jamaâ El Fna cultural centre builds capacity and resilience for the local creative industry, and a ‘Positive School’ will be set up for 170 young people.
The programme consists of eight different disciplines that cover vocal, dance and street performance areas. These contemporary forms of artistic expression are intertwined with Moroccan cultural traditions to give a new soul to the old. 20 of the top performing young students from the Positive School are eligible to receive a scholarship to support their respective entrepreneurial arts projects. Seven local organisations are collaborating in the delivery of the programme.
The cultural centre also hosts mentoring sessions for young people to kick-start their creative careers and offers residency programmes for Moroccan artists to grow their craft.
The TUI Colourful Cultures Morocco programme organises 50 cultural events each year, ranging from live music and dance performances to art exhibitions, seminars and festivals. There are 35, 000 visitors to the cultural centre events and guided tours of this exceptional project location.
Project Partner
Ali Zaoua Foundation is a Foundation working to improve the psychosocial and economic integration of Moroccan youth from disadvantaged backgrounds through artistic and cultural practice. The Foundation spearheads the first national network of community cultural centres across Morocco, welcoming hundreds of children and young people from all social backgrounds daily. These centres provide a variety of artistic workshops and professional training courses in the cultural and creative industries (ICC), as well as foreign language classes.
