Mohamed Zefzaf Cultural Complex

A major neighbourhood cultural venue in central Casablanca

The Mohamed Zefzaf Cultural Complex is one of Casablanca’s most substantial municipally managed cultural facilities. Located on Oussama Ibn Zaid Street in the Maârif district, it hosts theatre, concerts, dance, conferences, literary encounters, educational activities and community events for audiences from the neighbourhood and across the city.

Its importance comes from the combination of two functions. It is a professional performance venue capable of receiving large productions, while also operating as a neighbourhood institution for artistic education, reading and regular cultural participation. This balance between presentation, learning and public service gives the complex a distinctive position in Casablanca’s cultural landscape.

Visitors can also browse current cultural events in Casablanca and explore more cultural places across the city.

From the Maârif cultural centre to its 2022 reopening

The building originated as the cultural complex of the Maârif district and dates back to the 1950s. In 2001, the district council renamed it after Mohamed Zefzaf, one of the most influential Moroccan Arabic-language writers of the twentieth century, who died that year and had strong personal and literary ties to Casablanca and Maârif.

After decades of use, the venue underwent extensive restoration and redevelopment. The works upgraded the stage, acoustics, sound and lighting systems, seating, air conditioning and shared public areas. The renovated complex officially reopened in March 2022 with a concert by the Moroccan Philharmonic Orchestra involving more than one hundred musicians.

The reopening returned the venue to Casablanca’s active performing-arts network while reaffirming its public mission at neighbourhood level.

Mohamed Zefzaf and Casablanca’s literary memory

Mohamed Zefzaf (1945–2001) was a Moroccan novelist and short-story writer whose work examined urban life, marginality, solitude, social relations and the transformations of contemporary Morocco. Because he lived and wrote in Maârif, the name of the complex has a particularly strong local meaning: it honours not only a major national author, but a literary voice rooted in the streets and social realities of Casablanca.

This literary identity gives the building a symbolic role beyond its practical facilities. Readings, commemorations, discussions and public conversations can connect artistic creation with urban memory and cultural transmission.

A 577-seat auditorium

The auditorium is the central performance space. With 577 seats, it can accommodate concerts, plays, dance productions, screenings, ceremonies and conferences. The renovation introduced updated technical and stage equipment intended to improve professional production conditions, sound quality and audience comfort.

Visitors should confirm the date, start time, ticketing arrangements and access conditions for each event. Some activities are free, while others use the pricing policy of the producing organisation.

Arts conservatory, media library and training

The complex is more than an auditorium. It includes a municipal music and dance conservatory, with teaching spaces for disciplines such as music theory, singing, drama and dance. Courses may serve children, teenagers and adults, depending on registration periods, available places and the current programme.

A media library on the first floor provides space for reading, documentation and access to written culture. Together, these facilities allow people to attend a performance, develop an artistic practice, join a workshop or build a longer relationship with the institution.

A local cultural-policy institution

Managed under the authority of the Maârif district and connected to the cultural infrastructure of the Municipality of Casablanca, the complex demonstrates how local government can support access to the arts. Its spaces may host associations, schools, theatre companies, artists and institutional partners through one-off events or recurring projects.

Within a city shaped by very different cultural models, the venue complements the work of the French Institute of Casablanca, L’Uzine, the Hiba Foundation and the Villa des Arts. Its municipal governance and central Maârif location make it first and foremost a neighbourhood institution with metropolitan reach.

Practical information

• Address: Oussama Ibn Zaid Street, formerly Rue du Jura, Maârif, Casablanca 20250
• District: Maârif
• Governance: Maârif District Council / Municipality of Casablanca
• Auditorium capacity: 577 seats
• Facilities: auditorium, conservatory, media library, teaching rooms and lift
• Opening times: vary according to classes, activities and events
• Accessibility: lift and adapted circulation in shared areas

The complex is located on Rue Oussama Ibn Zaid in the heart of the Maârif district.