Sacred music festival starts in Fez

Morocco's Princess Lalla Hasna, Sister of King Mohammed VI, on Friday chaired the opening of the 9th edition of the Fez Sacred Music Festival, held under the theme "From my Soul to Yours, the Art of Transmission."

The Festival that runs until June 14 in Morocco's spiritual capital is marked by the participation of artists, singers and music groups from Africa, Europe, the Americas and Asia.

The Festival provides a space for dialogue between cultures and civilizations, said Mohamed Kabbaj, President of the Festival. It is meant to be a platform permitting us to go beyond globalization towards a more universal and a more genuine concept, he told the press in Casablanca.

In an era where technology has become predominant, "it is importance for this very technology to be rooted at a new cultural level that of sense, wherein the essential is conveyed not by words but rather from soul to soul," he said.

Organizers of the festival want to make of Fez the capital of spiritual dialogue. An international communication network will see the light of day to make of the festival an international encounter of universal cultures, said Kabbaj.

The Festival's mentors also see in this encounter an opportunity to contribute to ongoing efforts to correct the image of Islam and Muslims, prey to a fierce distortion campaign in the West.

The city of Fez is the suitable venue to host this kind of events to show that the Muslim culture remains a culture of overture and of dialogue and that Muslims who believe in the principle of difference, accept others, Kabbaj underlined.

Parallel to the Festival, Fez will host a conference, themed "A Soul for Globalization." The meeting will deal with a wide range of topics including "our responsibilities vis-a-vis the mounting generations," "the spiritual citizenship" and "Education for a World of solidarity."