Four centuries of relations between Morocco and the Netherlands
Thursday 12 December at Bibliothèque Nationale
NIMAR has the honour and the pleasure to invite you for an evening dedicated to four centuries of relations between Morocco and the Netherlands.
Morocco and the Netherlands have maintained relations for more than four centuries. These ties cover many different aspects: diplomatic, commercial, social and cultural. In 1605 the first diplomatic relations were established, resulting in the first treaty that Morocco concluded with a European state in 1610. From the early 1960s onwards, Moroccans have started to migrate to the Netherland resulting in a community of almost 400.000 Dutch with Moroccan origins nowadays. Some of its members have contributed significantly to Dutch culture by their writings, films, music, dance, fashion and paintings.
From the beginning, scholarly exchanges have also been important. Moroccan visitors to the Dutch Republic contributed to the beginnings of Arabic studies at Leiden University, hosting one of the earliest chairs for the study of Arabic in Europe. Between 1622 and 1624 the young Leiden graduate Jacobus Golius visited Morocco on a diplomatic and a scholarly mission, to be appointed professor of Arabic upon his return.
At the occasion of the publication of the French translation of “Le Maroc vu par des voyageurs Néerlandais 1605-2005” the well-known writer Abdelkader Benali and the historian Herman Obdeijn will present their book at the National Library of the Kingdom of Morocco in Rabat. The Dutch-Moroccan intellectual Abdellatif Mâroufi will speak about his “History of Moroccans in the Netherlands”. The Leiden based publishing house Brill will offer an important collection of microfiches of Arabic manuscripts as a gift to the National Library of the Kingdom of Morocco. This celebration of the richness and diversity of Moroccan-Dutch relations marks the new possibilities for cultural cooperation between the two countries that have managed to maintain a relationship for so many years.
Practical info
Date: 12 December 2019 from 18h30 to 20h
Location: BNRM, Bibliothèque Nationale du Royaume du Maroc
Language: French/English
