Art & culture
Marrakech has the most galleries, Rabat the national museum of modern art and the street-art festival, Casablanca the established dealers. Here is where to go, what is on, and how to buy.
Photograph: Viault, CC BY-SA 3.0
By City Tours Morocco Editorial Team
Published 15 March 2026 Last updated 15 March 2026
Morocco’s art draws on Amazigh, Arab, Andalusian, African and French traditions. Zellige, carved stucco, calligraphy and weaving are still practised in workshops, and alongside them runs a contemporary scene that has grown fast since the Mohammed VI Museum opened in Rabat in 2014 and the 1-54 fair added Marrakech, after London and New York, in 2018.
Most of the commercial galleries are in Gueliz, the new town; the photography museum and Le 18 are in the medina.
Al Maaden, about 5 km outside the city · Wed–Sun, 10:00–18:00
A museum of contemporary African art: painting, sculpture, photography, video and installation, with strong representation of Moroccan artists. It reopened in February 2025 after renovation.
It is outside the centre; take a taxi.
Gueliz
A commercial gallery showing established Moroccan and international artists in solo and group shows. It has shown at Art Dubai for several years running and celebrated its tenth year with a show in Rabat.
Avenue Mohammed V, Gueliz
Opened in 2006 by Nathalie Locatelli and described as the first gallery in Africa devoted to contemporary photography. It shows photographers working in and on the Maghreb and has taken part in Paris Photo.
Rue Yves Saint Laurent, Gueliz · daily except Wednesday, 10:00–18:30, last entry 18:00
Yves Saint Laurent’s work, shown in a terracotta-brick building by Studio KO, with a hall for temporary exhibitions. Buy tickets only through the Jardin Majorelle’s official ticketing site; the museum warns against unauthorised resellers.
Rue Yves Saint Laurent, Gueliz
The museum fills Jacques Majorelle’s cobalt-blue studio in the garden. Pierre Bergé founded it in 2011 with a gift of more than 600 Amazigh objects (jewellery, textiles, ceremonial pieces from across Morocco), and it took his name in 2020. Tickets can be combined with the garden and the Musée Yves Saint Laurent.
Gueliz
Opened in 2010. Contemporary and urban art, much of it by artists who came out of graffiti, with Moroccan names alongside international ones.
Rue Ahl Fes, Medina · daily, 9:30–19:00
A private museum in a medina house near the Medersa Ben Youssef, founded in 2009. Its collection of photographs of Morocco runs from the late 1870s to about 1960. There is a roof terrace with a café.
Derb El Ferrane, Medina
An independent cultural space and artist residency founded in 2013 by the photographer Laila Hida. Exhibitions, talks, screenings and workshops; check its programme for open days.
The capital has the national museum and the longest-running independent space; Casablanca has the established dealers.
Rabat
The national museum of modern and contemporary art, opened in 2014. Its 2026 programme is given over entirely to Moroccan artists, including Younes Rahmoun’s “Habba – Chajara – Zahra” (from 12 February) and a Mohamed Melehi retrospective (29 April to 31 August).
Rabat
An independent art space founded in 2005, with exhibitions, screenings, talks and a residency for research and production. It marked twenty years in 2025.
Casablanca
A commercial gallery representing Moroccan and African artists, from modernists such as Mohamed Melehi and Malika Agueznay to younger photographers. It shows at 1-54 and took a Melehi presentation to Frieze Masters in 2026.
Tangier for its literary and film history, Essaouira for its self-taught painters.
Rue d’Amérique, Tangier medina · closed Sunday
The former US legation, now a museum and research institute, with paintings, maps and photographs on Morocco and the United States and a wing given to the writer and composer Paul Bowles.
Cinéma Rif, Grand Socco, Tangier
An Art Deco cinema of 1938, run since 2007 as a cinémathèque co-founded by the artist Yto Barrada: Moroccan and international films, a library and workshops.
Avenue Oqba Ibn Nafiaa, Essaouira medina
Founded in 1988 by the Danish art historian Frédéric Damgaard to show Essaouira’s self-taught painters and wood sculptors. He sold it in 2006; it continues under new owners. Opening hours vary, so ask ahead.
Rabat has the most murals. The Jidar festival, founded in 2015, invites Moroccan and foreign artists to paint building walls each spring and has left more than a hundred across the city.
Asilah, south of Tangier, has had artists painting its whitewashed medina walls during the cultural moussem since 1978. Some murals stay; others are painted over for the next year.
The 2026 editions, as reported by the organisers and the Moroccan press.
La Mamounia, Marrakech. The fair’s Marrakech edition began in 2018; the 2026 edition ran 5–8 February.
Dates for 2027 are announced on the fair’s own site, 1-54.com.
Rabat. Founded in 2015 as Jidar – Toiles de rue; the 11th edition ran 16–27 April 2026. The festival has left more than a hundred murals across the city.
Asilah. Held since 1978. The 2026 edition ran in three sessions; the summer session, 28 June to 5 July, was given to the visual arts, with artists painting on the medina walls.
Hassan Hajjaj
Photography, installation and fashion. Pop portraits in frames built from tins and packaging.
Mahi Binebine
Painter, sculptor and novelist, based in Marrakech; his figures often deal with migration.
Lalla Essaydi
Large photographs of women whose skin and clothes are written over in calligraphy, a reply to Orientalist painting.
Mohamed Melehi (1936–2020)
A founder of Moroccan modernism and the Casablanca School, known for his wave motif. Subject of the 2026 retrospective at the MMVI in Rabat.
Safaa Erruas
Based in Tetouan; delicate sculptures and installations in white paper, fabric, needles and pins.
Ask for an invoice and a certificate of authenticity with the artist’s name, title, date and medium. Established galleries crate and ship abroad and prepare the customs paperwork; ask for the shipping quote before you pay.
Prices are negotiable and there is no certificate. Watch for machine-made rugs and ceramics sold as handmade. In Essaouira some painters sell from their own studios.
Keep every receipt for your home customs declaration, and check your own country’s import rules. For anything sold as old or antique, ask the seller about export rules before you buy.
Le 18, Marrakech
Residency and project space in the medina; exhibitions and talks open to the public.
Ain Nokbi potters’ quarter, Fes
The potters’ quarter, where you can watch wheel-throwing and hand painting.
Colline des Potiers, Safi
The potters’ hill, with working studios; painted ceramics are sold at the workshops.
For contemporary art, MACAAL (outside the city at Al Maaden), Comptoir des Mines Galerie, David Bloch Gallery and Galerie 127, which specialises in photography. In the medina, the Maison de la Photographie shows historic photographs of Morocco and Le 18 is an independent art space. The Musée Yves Saint Laurent and the Musée Pierre Bergé des Arts Berbères in the Jardin Majorelle are in Gueliz.
Commercial galleries usually charge nothing. Museums charge admission, and prices change, so check each museum’s own site. For the Musée Yves Saint Laurent, the Jardin Majorelle and the Musée Pierre Bergé des Arts Berbères, buy only through the Jardin Majorelle’s official ticketing site.
Yes. The 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair has held a Marrakech edition since 2018, MACAAL shows contemporary African art, and the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art opened in Rabat in 2014. Artists such as Hassan Hajjaj, Mahi Binebine and Lalla Essaydi exhibit internationally.
Yes. Established galleries crate and ship abroad and prepare an invoice, a certificate of authenticity and customs paperwork. Ask for the shipping quote before you pay, keep the receipts, and check your home country’s import rules.
Rabat has the most: the Jidar Rabat Street Art Festival, held since 2015, has left more than a hundred murals across the city. In Asilah, artists paint on the medina walls during the summer session of the town’s cultural moussem, held since 1978.
In 2026 the 1-54 fair ran in Marrakech in early February, Jidar in Rabat in the second half of April, and the visual-arts session of the Asilah moussem at the end of June. Check each event’s site for the next edition.
Le 18 in the Marrakech medina opens its exhibitions and talks to the public. In Essaouira some painters sell from their own studios. The potters’ quarter in Fes and the Colline des Potiers in Safi have working workshops you can visit.
Yes. Le 18 in Marrakech and Le Cube in Rabat both run artist residencies. Check each organisation’s site for open calls.
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