Museum of Villa des Arts in Casablanca

In Casablanca, one of the few museums in Morocco called the Museum of the Villa of Art contains a true collection of the contemporary works of art coming mainly from the Cherifian kingdom.

Located at 30 Boulevard Brahim Roudani in Casablanca, the Museum of the Villa des Arts is a place at once retro, nostalgic and profoundly modern. And for good reason, this museum exhibits contemporary Moroccan art in a renovated beautiful villa dated to the 30s. Belonging to the ONA Foundation, the Villa des Arts Museum is a major cultural venue in the city of Casablanca.

The works of the artists Ahmed Cherkaoui, Jilali Gharbaoui, Mohamed Serghini, Farid Belkahia, and Mohamed Chebaa are presented in this large white house, where punctual exhibitions are organized as well. The Villa des Arts Museum consists of more than 800 works.

Equipped with an auditorium, a documentation center and a cafeteria, the Museum of the Villa des Arts is a pleasant place where exhibitions (permanent or occasional), conferences, shows, and workshops are organized. The museum is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 11h to 19h and its visit costs 10 dirhams per entrant. The price of tickets for shows and workshops varies according to the program.

In a magnificent Art Déco villa built in 1934, the villa of arts offers a varied program from exhibitions, literary meetings, and philosophical conferences to concerts and plays. The villa of arts is also located in Rabat; it was founded and is directed by the ONA foundation, existing since the end of the 80s.

An essential local cultural actor, the ONA Foundation has set up permanent collections, participates in artistic projects in the form of patronage and offers young public workshops (visual arts, comics, etc.) year-round. A place to attend urgently and all year round because of its dense and diversified programming, in front of which none of us can remain insensitive!

The Museum of the Villa des Arts is a beautiful Art Déco building, in which there are punctual and permanent exhibitions of contemporary art. To get to the Villa des Arts Museum in Casablanca, it is advisable to rent a car.

Abderrahman Slaoui Foundation Museum

A museum that is located in Casablanca and that contains various objects and paintings that reflect several years of history, mainly: jewelry, boxes, and other colors explosion. The visit is not very long but you can rest while sipping a mint tea on a small terrace on the top floor of the museum.

The Abderrahman Slaoui foundation is little known, even for inhabitants of Casablanca, but it is well worth the detour. This small museum contains souvenirs amassed by Abderrahman Slaoui during his life, and the eclecticism there is very high rated. The museum is modern, well laid out and is composed of a terrace where you can have the opportunity to drink a typical Moroccan mint tea. It is a must visit place during your stay in Casablanca.

Abderrahman Slaoui Foundation Museum welcomes you in a beautiful Art Déco villa of the 40s.

On more than 600 m2, the museum invites you to discover its rich and eclectic permanent collections collected throughout the life of the late Abderrahman Slaoui (1919-2001), businessman, art lover and author of books about 2001 art.

His collection of ancient Maghreb posters traveled around the world, including an exhibition at the Arab World Institute with a selection of more than eighty posters, in Turkey and very recently at the Majorelle Garden Museum in Marrakesh.

The museum also has splendid golden jewels from Morocco: real works of the master jewelers of the 19th and 20th centuries, exceptional pieces that demonstrate the know-how of the Moroccan craftsmen.

Passionate about Moroccan art, the late Abderrahman Slaoui bequeathed a whole collection of the works of Mohammed Ben Ali R'bati (1861-1939), the first known Moroccan figurative painter; he was the first Moroccan painter to exhibit in Europe, and first in London, and then in Marseille. One of these features is that he himself made the wooden carved frames and decorated it in the purest Moroccan style.

Moroccan costume drawings by Jean Besancenot (1902-1992) made between 1934 and 1939 are exposed to discover the traditional costumes and modern costumes of the present time.

The joy of having this beautiful museum in the heart of the city goes back to the talented Abderrahman Slaoui, a great art collector, who, for more than 50 years has taken it with a devouring passion: that of finding works of art. The collection, permanently displayed, is full of treasures, ranging from antique jewelry, old posters, illuminations, and bohemian crystal boxes from the 19th century.

Indeed, it is a true collection of cultural and historical heritage of Morocco and the world. Everything began with Abderrahman Slaoui and everything continues today because and thanks to his descendants, he was anxious to create a visibility worthiness of the collection, and also to encourage and expose the contemporary creation through temporary exhibitions. The museum is a delicate showcase for art, and a beautiful serenity place for its visitors.

Museum of Moroccan Judaism

Museums are quite incredible in the land of Islam nowadays. There are magnificent collections of everyday objects and worship of what was once the Jewish community in Morocco. The collection consists of almost all parts of the years between 1956 and 1990. This is a great testimony of what once was an essential component of Morocco before. The elders remember, but young people no longer know that there were Jews in Morocco; hence the educational and cultural importance of this museum arises.

Many positive points: home manager, the tea offered, the layout of the museum, collections, etc. Just for that the museum deserves the detour.

What I find unfortunate, and that's why I give it the rank 3/5, is that when you are not Jewish, you wonder what these objects can serve.

For me, it is missing a reminder concerning a number of rites, the use of lamps Hanukkah, for example. How the rite is performed at the synagogue, the reading of the Torah, the role of the Rabbi in the synagogue and in Jewish daily life, etc.

The Museum of Moroccan Judaism was opened in 1997. It is considered as the first museum to be opened in Casablanca, and the only Jewish museum in the whole Arab region. Created and managed by the Judeo-Moroccan Cultural Heritage Foundation.

The Murdock Bengio Children's Home is the ancient name of the building that now houses the museum. The name stands for an orphanage concerned with the protection of Jewish children back then. It was built in 1948 by Mrs. Célia Bengio in memory of her late husband Murdock Bengio.

The route of the permanent exhibition is an enhancement of objects of worship and their Moroccan specificity.

The major pieces that trace this course are: The Scrolls of the Torah and their ornaments, Traditional lamps of synagogues, Objects of Bar-mitzvah ceremony, The lamps of Hanukkah,mThe Scrolls of Esther, Chairs of circumcision, and The stands of synagogues.

The museum has a multipurpose room for editing temporary exhibitions. Exhibitions that fall under Contemporary Art, namely: visual arts, photography, sculpture and installations. The current exhibition is an exhibition of photos of synagogues restored in Morocco, from 1997 until today. It explains the diversity of architectural styles between the different regions of Morocco, mainly: Tangier, Tetouan, Fez, Meknes, Errachidia, and the rest of Berber areas, falling in between Tiznit-Taroudant and the region of Ouarzazate.

The initial collection of the Museum of Moroccan Judaism is mainly composed of religious objects, objects of worship of Moroccan tradition, called: Moroccan Judaica. Since the opening of the museum, missions have been carried out, aiming at the collection of abandoned objects in different synagogues across the country.

Since its creation, the Museum of Moroccan Judaism, thanks to its former director, has developed an acquisition policy that has fueled our background, with exceptional objects such as: Hitler's meguillah , a Keswa kbira (Corcos Family), Hanukkah lamps, a rare Azemmour embroidery, and manuscripts in Judeo-Moroccan (such as the Appeal of Azzouz Cohen).