Mohamed Abed Al Jabri House of Culture, Figuig

A public cultural house in the heart of the Figuig oasis

The Mohamed Abed Al Jabri House of Culture is Figuig’s principal public cultural facility. Located on Ibn Sina Avenue near the town market, the local cultural office and the hospital, it provides this remote border oasis with a performance and screening hall, a public library, exhibition areas, creative workshops and spaces used by residents, schools, artists and local associations.

Figuig is formed by a group of ksour, a terraced palm-grove landscape and a historic water-sharing system. In this setting, a permanent cultural institution has a particularly important role: it connects living oasis practices — music, oral history, poetry, craft, migration memory and Amazigh culture — with contemporary creation, education and public discussion.

Opened in 2009

The House of Culture was inaugurated in December 2009. Its construction represented an investment of nearly eight million Moroccan dirhams and resulted from a partnership involving the Ministry of Culture, Figuig municipality, Figuig Province, the Oriental Development Agency and the European Union.

The institution occupies a total area reported at approximately 2,300 square metres. It was conceived as a multipurpose facility able to meet several needs in a town far from Morocco’s main cultural touring circuits: hosting a performance or film, presenting an exhibition, organising a workshop, supporting public reading and providing a venue for civic organisations.

A 160-seat hall, library and creative spaces

The building includes a 160-seat conference, performance and projection hall, an exhibition area, a multimedia room, a reading room and public library, a children’s space and a visual-arts workshop.

This combination makes it more than an event venue. A visitor may attend a theatre performance or concert, but the same institution can also host a reading programme, a training session, a children’s activity or an exhibition. The library of the Mohamed Abed Al Jabri House of Culture is listed in the Moroccan Ministry of Culture’s national guide to public libraries.

Named after Mohamed Abed Al Jabri

The institution now bears the name of Mohamed Abed Al Jabri, the Moroccan philosopher and intellectual born in Figuig in 1935. Best known for his major Critique of Arab Reason project, Al Jabri wrote extensively on heritage, modernity, education and political thought and became one of Morocco’s most influential twentieth-century thinkers.

The name gives the building a distinctive meaning. It links a neighbourhood-scale cultural service with the city’s intellectual history and underlines that Figuig is not only an architectural landscape or heritage destination. It is also a place of learning, manuscripts, religious and scholarly transmission, debate and intellectual production.

Theatre and international exchange

The hall has hosted several theatre programmes, including the International Theatre Festival of Figuig. During its second edition in 2014, productions and delegations from Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, France and Canada took part in performances and meetings held in the city.

Theatre here ranges from local association-led work to touring productions, professional encounters and international exchange. In a border town without a large network of permanent stages, the 160-seat hall gives artists an appropriate place to present their work and allows audiences to encounter productions that rarely reach remote oasis communities.

Oasis cultures as living heritage

The House of Culture is closely connected with Figuig’s Festival of Oasis Cultures, organised by the national culture authorities with local and regional partners. Its programmes combine music, folklore, visual art, craft, local products, documentary film, exhibitions, conferences and training workshops.

The festival does not treat heritage as a fixed tourist image. It addresses the knowledge associated with palm cultivation and water management, the earthen architecture of the ksour, musical practices, oral memory and the social and environmental future of oasis communities. The House provides an indoor venue for discussions, screenings, workshops and selected artistic events within this broader programme.

Local music and visiting artists

Concerts at the venue reflect different layers of Figuig’s musical culture: local folk ensembles, Amazigh performers, oasis musicians, oud, contemporary Moroccan song and tributes to artists from the region.

The programme has also included international exchange. In 2022, a Belgium-based musical ensemble performed at the House before appearing in Oujda as part of a collaboration between European and Moroccan musicians. In 2023, an oasis celebration brought together local groups, Amazigh song, contemporary music and a repertoire influenced by the Moroccan band Nass El Ghiwane.

Reading, children and arts education

The public library, multimedia room, children’s area and visual-arts workshop support an educational mission that extends beyond evening events. These spaces can accommodate public reading, author encounters, school activities, digital initiation and creative workshops for young people.

This role is especially relevant in a geographically isolated town with a large diaspora. The House makes books, cultural resources and artistic practice more accessible to residents while giving local organisations an infrastructure in which to develop their own programmes.

A civic forum for Figuig and its diaspora

The institution also hosts meetings beyond the arts. In 2013, it received a conference on the contribution of migrants to development in Morocco’s Oriental region, bringing together local associations, Figuig diaspora federations in Europe, elected representatives and public institutions.

Other activities connect culture with education, youth, sport and local development. In June 2026, the House hosted the opening of the Figuig Sports Days, including a focus on school sport. This range of uses reflects its practical function: a shared venue where the town can hold debates, training programmes, celebrations and collective projects.

Planning a visit

The best reason to visit is a specific scheduled activity: a performance, concert, screening, conference, exhibition or workshop. Opening times vary with programmes and seasons. No reliable recent direct phone number, institutional email address or permanent detailed timetable is publicly available, so visitors should consult the House’s social page and announcements from the Oriental cultural authorities before travelling.

Continue with the Oasis Heritage Cultural Space, browse other cultural places in Figuig and check events in the oasis.