As Morocco takes center stage at this year’s Paris Book Festival (April 11–13), French Culture Minister Rachida Dati praised the "strength" and "vitality" of the Kingdom's literary landscape on Wednesday evening, just ahead of the event’s official opening at the Grand Palais.
"Starting tomorrow, we will celebrate the strength and, above all, the vitality of Morocco’s literary and publishing scene," Dati emphasized, speaking alongside Morocco’s Minister of Youth, Culture, and Communication, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, during a reception held in honor of the Kingdom.
Held in the prestigious salons of the French Ministry of Culture, the reception was attended by Moroccan Ambassador to France Samira Sitail and brought together prominent cultural figures from both countries — including authors, publishers, intellectuals, actors, musicians, and other Moroccan and French personalities.
"This evening is a celebration of the cultural friendship that unites France and the Kingdom of Morocco… and I would like to extend this invitation to all those, across all cultural sectors and generations, who help sustain the cultural relationship between our two countries on a daily basis," she stated.
The French Minister praised Morocco’s commitment to culture, emphasizing the "unwavering" attention and support His Majesty King Mohammed VI has dedicated to cultural matters.
In October, His Majesty Mohammed VI and French President Emmanuel Macron decided to "write together a new chapter in our shared history," she recalled.
This commitment, she noted, has been framed as an exceptional partnership, which has now been further strengthened, enthusing over the fact that culture is "at the heart of this historic moment."
Driven by the enthusiasm to strengthen "our ties and build the community together”, the French Minister believes that this outstanding cultural relationship is also enabling "the emergence of a new cultural scene, a hyphenated scene, the Franco-Moroccan one."
Proud of her Moroccan roots, Dati also described immigration as "an extraordinary opportunity for France, and also for Morocco," as the French Institute will launch next year in May the Mediterranean Season — a major event for which she called on Moroccan cultural actors to participate actively.
For his part, Morocco's culture minister described Paris Book Festival as embodying "the unbreakable bond" based not only on a shared language but also on "an embrace of differences and a dialogue of memories."
Bensaid emphasized that Franco-Moroccan friendship is more than a model — it represents an alternative future where shared history unites, demographic and migratory challenges become opportunities for investing in culture and youth, and differences are seen as sources of creativity rather than conflict.
Bensaid took this opportunity to highlight Morocco's efforts, which, under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, has chosen culture as the "foundation of its emergence."
Noting that France has aligned itself with this vision through its desire to "write a book together" with Morocco, the minister concluded that Franco-Moroccan friendship is "a vision proposed to our two continents — a vision of another narrative, another imaginative framework: passionate yet serene, rooted in the past but free of resentment, and resolutely committed to a future of friendship and culture."
MAP: 10 avril 2025
