Belghazi Museum: jewel of Moroccan traditional art
Morocco-USA, Culture, 7/20/1999

The Belghazi Museum of Sale (Rabat's twin city) no longer needs to show its credentials, as it already gleaned the laudatory title of Africa's first private museum.

The museum's owner, Abdelilah Belghazi, told MAP's bureau in Washington how his family has always sought to preserve Morocco's rich handicraft patrimony by collecting rare items and by creating its own original pieces.

Over the years, the Belghazis established strategic alliances with craftsmen, especially in the Moroccan imperial cities of Fez and Meknes (central Morocco) to have a name in the traditional embroidery not only in Morocco but throughout the world as well.

The family members distinguished themselves when they rehabilitated the mausoleum of Moulay Driss Zarhoune, where King Idriss 1st, founder of the Idrissid Dynasty that ruled Morocco in the 8th and 9th century is buried. The rehabilitation work lasted for five years.

Belghazi who admits that he has always had a weakness for carved wood recalled that he collected 290 pieces of woodwork, including Mucharabias, gates and furniture that date back to the 15th century and that he set up near Kenitra (50 km north of Rabat) a workshop endowed with the necessary equipment for woodwork.

The two-story museum, built over 7,500 square meters, includes 20 exhibition halls that also serve as a center for artistic and cultural research for experts from Germany, Canada, Spain and Italy.

The Belghazis also contributed their expertise to traditional art projects in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Pieces of the museum were exhibited last May in the United States, part of the annual "Memphis In May" festival.

The exhibition was a clear success as it attracted 35,000 visitors per day, who were enchanted by the blend of Islamic and Jewish arts.

The Islamic art exhibition showed pieces of measurement tools, planispheric astrolabes dating back to the 15th century, copper compasses (19th century), solar compasses (16th century), ancient weapons, ancient berber jewels in addition to precious manuscripts, including the smallest-size Coran (27 millimeters) written in black and red and dating back to the 17th century.

The Jewish art exhibition displayed ancient jewels, including Jewish Libra in golden silver with round pearls and fish-shape pendants, dating back to the 18th century.

The exhibition was so successful that the public insisted that the Belghazi museum return to the USA another time.

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