Fondation Dar Belarj Située au cœur de la Médina de Marrakech

Ch[a]rita / السِّيس 2025

Ch[a]rita 2025, under the theme “Times to tear, and times to mend,” is an eight-day festival held in Marrakech, bringing together artistic interventions, screenings, and conversations. Curated by Francesca Masoero and Rim Mejdi, this edition explores the city’s collective memory, its temporalities, and its public spaces through site-specific works by Moroccan and international artists.

The 6th edition of the Ch[a]rita Festival took place from February 21 to 28, 2025, across various locations in Marrakech, including Bab Lkhmiss, Harti Park, and Dar Bellarj. Under the curatorial theme “Times to tear, and times to mend,” the program explores the relationship between art, urbanism, and the city’s collective consciousness. Rather than being merely an “event” designed for consumption, the festival is conceived as a ritual space for reflection and imagination.

The 2025 edition of Ch[a]rita, titled “Times to tear, and times to mend,” places art in public space at the heart of a living dialogue between the city, its inhabitants, and its history. Curated by Francesca Masoero and Rim Mejdi, the festival challenges “eventification” — the tendency to prioritize temporary cultural events designed for consumption — by fostering ephemeral interventions that leave lasting traces in the city’s collective memory. From February 21 to 28, 2025, the program activated symbolic spaces across Marrakech, from the traditional fountains of the Medina to popular markets.

 

Program Highlights

 

  • Site-specific interventions: The works Peacock Water Clock and Clepsydra by Raymond Gemayel use the movement of water to connect the history of Islamic engineering with contemporary environmental concerns. Souki Belghiti’s installation Sandmen, presented in a former hammam, creates a space for intergenerational memory transmission through Moroccan lullabies.

 

  • Aliocha Tazi’s mobile foosball table, Le3bou w Rta7ou, encourages spontaneous encounters at Bab Lkhmiss and Harti Park. Meanwhile, Obje(a)ction by Grocco uses found materials to reflect on urban transformations and invites the public to take part in a “treasure hunt” through the city’s streets  

 

  • Knowledge and archival research: The program includes a listening session by Alia Mossallam focusing on decolonized archives documenting prisoners of the First World War. It also presents Garden Utopias, a photographic cookbook by the Kimiā Collective, created in collaboration with mothers and young people from the local community.

 

  • Dialogue: The festival concludes with a conversation between Ch[a]rita artists and Studio LABERINTO at the Regional Printing House (Imprimerie Régionale), focusing on strategies for preserving and re-engaging with Marrakech’s architectural heritage.