Some months ago when I was looking for nice and less known locations to visit while driving to Kasbah Tamadot coming from Marrakech, I stumbled upon an artist residence in the small town of Tahanaout. A concept resembling the spirit of the Villa Medici, settled in the middle of olive trees in Tahanaout. Al Maqam, a little bohemian oasis created by artist/painter Mohamed Mourabiti, one of the contemporary Moroccan painters with several individual and group exhibitions both in Morocco and abroad. In 2000 Mohamed Mourabiti chooses to install his atelier and showroom in Al Maqam and the place quickly takes on the appearance of a literary lounge.
Its vocation: to provide artists the conditions and the means to develop their art and accompany them in their process of creation. Thus, all forms of art have right to quote : painting, music, poetry, sculpture, photography, literature etc. Al Maqam also offers a restaurant open to visitors on reservation, while strolling in the garden, the bookstore, the workshops, or wandering into the gallery with exposed the work of Mourabiti and other contemporary Moroccan artists . The whole concept creates a fertile alchemy if one is to judge by the number of encounters and experiences that took place there.
