ABSTRACT
This chapter explores a set of recent transformations in the structures of governance, funding and institutional objectives supporting Morocco's national museums. Since April 2011, a new National Foundation for Museums has taken over the management of a network of regional museums in the country, many of which were established under the French Protectorate administration (1912–1956) and subsequently managed by the Moroccan Ministry of Culture following independence. Coinciding with King Mohammed VI's ratification of a constitutional referendum in July 2011, the creation of the foundation is an important initiative put forward to express a new relationship between the Moroccan state and its citizens, one based on the principles of cultural pluralism and democratic participation. This chapter considers the tensions and possibilities entailed in the foundation's dual objectives of “democratizing” access to cultural expression within the country and promoting a cohesive image of Morocco's artistic and cultural identity abroad. It proposes that, by decentralizing its infrastructure and reorienting its mission to give voice to divergent voices, the Moroccan national museum system bears the potential to become a strong platform for expression and a powerful apparatus through which the voices of underserved communities might reverberate on a national scale.
