Moroccan Heritage and Creativity in the Spotlight at the Arab World Institute (IMA) in “Long Live the Bride!”

Paris – Moroccan heritage and artistic creation take center stage in the exhibition “Long Live the Bride!”, held at the Arab World Institute (IMA) in Paris and dedicated to wedding traditions in the Arab world.

The exhibition, which runs until the end of February, showcases Morocco through a significant collection of objects, traditional clothing, and jewelry, while also highlighting contemporary artists’ perspectives on these traditions.

The National Foundation of Museums (FNM) has notably loaned the IMA a whole series of costumes and jewelry related to weddings, which form a significant part of the exhibition’s richness. Inaugurated on September 28, the exhibition allows Parisian audiences to discover the diversity of Moroccan clothing and ornamental traditions associated with wedding ceremonies.

These heritage pieces engage in a dialogue with the works of contemporary artists, revealing traditional practices alongside societal transformations and new artistic interpretations of marriage, memory, and identity.

The Moroccan scene is notably represented by Maïssane Alibrahimi, Daoud Aoulad-Syad, Carolle Bénitah, Khadija El Abyad, Ymane Fakhir, Fatna Gbouri, Sophia Kacimi, Yasmina Ouahid, Sara Ouhaddou, and Ghizlane Sahli.

Through their diverse works (photography, painting, installation, and visual arts), these artists offer unique perspectives on the traditions, social representations, and cultural transformations related to marriage in Morocco.

Photography, in particular, plays a significant role in this contemporary exploration. The works of Daoud Aoulad-Syad and Ymane Fakhir contribute to a broader reflection on Moroccan society, memory, and the evolution of cultural practices.

The exhibition also highlights contemporary approaches that explore the transmission of heritage and the relationship between tradition and modernity. The works of Khadija El Abyad, Ghizlane Sahli, and Sara Ouhaddou, in particular, illustrate this desire to revisit cultural legacies through contemporary artistic practices.

The presence of Fatna Gbouri further contributes to situating this selection within a historical perspective, fostering a dialogue between different generations of artists.

Through this exhibition, the Arab World Institute (IMA) aims to explore marriage practices in the Arab world, highlighting their diversity and evolution. Marriage is presented both as a family and social event, and as a space for the transmission of skills, symbols, identities, and collective memories, with Morocco’s contribution being strongly celebrated.

“We have illustrated the cooperation which is already extraordinarily abundant with the Kingdom of Morocco and with its museums, since the National Foundation of Museums has loaned us a whole series of costumes and finery related to the wedding which today make up a whole part of the richness of the exhibition Long Live the Bride,” said the director of the IMA, Anne-Claire Legendre, in a statement to MAP on the occasion of the opening of the exhibition.