Iklyle Cultural Centre, Tangier

From a public media library to a multidisciplinary cultural centre

Iklyle Cultural Centre occupies a building with a long educational history in Tangier. It stands on Place Ain Ktiouet inside the restored former Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah school, an early twentieth-century property. On 25 December 2013, the Mohammed VI Foundation for the Promotion of Social Works in Education and Training opened the site as its second national public media library after Rabat.

The project, reported at approximately MAD 11 million, combined heritage rehabilitation with public access to knowledge. At the time of opening, the library held close to 13,000 printed, digital and online resources. Although developed for Foundation members and their families, it also welcomed students, local residents and people with specific accessibility needs.

A restored building designed for different uses

The original media library provided around 730 square metres of usable space divided into six areas: a periodicals kiosk, a Braille section, a children’s area, a multimedia space, a training room and a multipurpose hall. This layout continues to shape the centre’s identity. Reading, workshops, public discussions, exhibitions and educational programmes can take place within the same institution without turning it into either a conventional library or a performance venue alone.

During the early 2020s, the Foundation’s cultural media libraries were progressively brought together under the Iklyle name. The network aims to widen access to information, art and creative practice for both the education community and the general public. Tangier’s centre now combines library services, training spaces, artistic workshops and a changing cultural programme.

Artistic learning before public presentation

Documented activities include visual art, music, photography, theatre and ceramics. Workshops are organised as learning processes rather than isolated entertainment sessions: participants discover a discipline, build technical confidence and may later present their work to an audience.

The collective exhibition La Magie des Débuts, held in July 2024, brought together work produced during a year-long visual-arts workshop. Painting, abstraction, sculpture and ceramics made the learning process itself visible. The centre also hosts literary meetings, talks, writing competitions and programmes for children and teenagers. In 2026, Tangier joined the ninth edition of the Iklyle Young Short-Story Writers Competition and offered a weekday summer programme for children aged five to fifteen.

The Iklyle gallery

On 28 April 2023, the Foundation opened a dedicated exhibition gallery inside the centre with Hassan Abarou’s Matière et Espace: Réflexions artistiques. The gallery was created to show artists from the education sector alongside practitioners from the wider public and to strengthen visual-art circulation in Tangier and northern Morocco.

Later projects included Hamid Boukheraz’s Interculturalité et hybridation in 2025. Iklyle therefore operates as a place of study, artistic production and public presentation, bringing teachers, artists, young participants and neighbourhood audiences into contact.

Planning a visit

Workshops, competitions and holiday programmes may require advance registration, and age limits or schedules change from one activity to another. Published opening hours differ between directories, so contacting the centre before a specific visit is advisable.

Continue with the Ahmed Boukmakh Cultural Complex, the Cinémathèque de Tanger, KIOSK by Think Tanger, current events in Tangier and the city’s cultural-place directory.