The Foundation for the Safeguarding of Cultural Heritage of Rabat, chaired by Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa hosted the “Drawing My Heritage” program award ceremony this Tuesday, May 31, 2022, for 60 children from 20 schools in the academy of Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, at the Tadili Regional Education and Training Development Center, in partnership with the Ministry of National Education, Preschool and Sports and the Moroccan Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS – Morocco).
“Drawing My Heritage” occurred in conjunction with International Monuments and Sites Day, which this year focused on “Heritage and Climate”, aims to raise awareness of Rabat’s cultural heritage through research and creative arts.
Six hundred schoolchildren from 20 local schools got the chance to experientially discover responsible practices towards the environment inherent to Rabat’s cultural heritage, whether it be through erection of historical gardens in heritage cities or protection of the environment in old buildings (interior gardens in traditional houses).
In March and April, the children started in-class research on Rabat’s cultural heritage, followed by visits of the city’s historical gardens guided by curators from the historical sites and monuments, where they learned to recognize and understand the city’s landscape heritage.
Three children were then selected from each of the twenty schools of the Academy, to attend the Regional Art Workshop at the Botanical Gardens on Tuesday, April 26. In keeping with this year’s theme of “Heritage and Climate”, the children focused on Rabat’s landscape heritage, specifically on Nouzhat Hassan, the Botanical Gardens, Chellah Gardens, and the Andalusian Gardens of the Qasba of the Oudaïas. The children wrote five sentences to describe the connection between their drawing, the garden depicted and our climate.
Three drawings from each of the 20 schools were selected from the April 26 Workshop for the May 31, 2022 Award Ceremony. All 60 children drawing at the Workshop received a complete artist’s drawing kit, while the 600 children who attended the “Drawing My Heritage” program received Certificates of Participation. Additionally, each of the 62 teachers supervising the activity received prizes.
The children’s paintings are to be exhibited online on the website of the Foundation for the Safeguarding of Cultural Heritage of Rabat.
The Foundation for the Safeguarding of Rabat’s Cultural Heritage
the dynamics developped by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist him, for the conservation and the development of the cultural heritage and this, throughout the Kingdom.
Placed under the Effective Presidency of Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa, the Foundation for the Safeguarding of the Cultural Heritage of Rabat follows this path.
The Foundation for the Safeguarding of the Cultural Heritage of Rabat was created as a result of the inclusion of “Rabat, Modern Capital and Historic City” : Shared Heritage” on UNESCO’s World Heritage list.
The world heritage of the city of Rabat, classified in 2012, consists of an area of 348 ha which attests to the universal and exceptional value of this city. Indeed, its current profile is the result of a unique and fruitful dialogue which combines a heritage shared between several great cultures of human history: the ancient, Islamic, Hispano-Maghrebian and European past.
The Foundation’s mission is to educate and raise awareness of the importance of safeguarding the cultural heritage of Rabat in order to enable people to benefit from it today and to pass it on to future generations.
The Foundation brings together all the stakeholders and catalyzes the efforts of the actors in terms of safeguarding and promoting the cultural heritage of Rabat, in a participatory approach that integrates institutions, civil society, international organizations, experts and any other actor concerned.
The Foundation works to transmit the historical, architectural, artistic, landscape, material and immaterial values of the cultural heritage of Rabat.