Several social centres have opened their doors in the Sidi Moumen neighbourhood to support young people and help them move forward. But their number remains insufficient, compared to the number of inhabitants of this district. Currently, there are only two centres for 300,000 inhabitants, especially since these two structures have extremely limited means. Similarly, their offer of cultural spaces does not allow the young people of the neighbourhood to deploy all their energy. Thus, in a concern for reconnecting Sidi Moumen to the rest of the Casablanca territory, the creation of the cultural centre "Les Étoiles de Sidi Moumen" is considered a step further towards a united city.

The inauguration took place last week, in the presence of Nabil Ayouch and Mahi Binebine, initiators of the Ali Zaoua Foundation. The cultural centre is designed to bring together all the ambitious young talents of Sidi Moumen, in order to give them the possibility to perform in a professional setting. Indeed, this cultural centre is "a place of initiation and training in the arts and stage professions. Music, theatre, dance, visual and plastic arts classes are taught there, as well as foreign language classes, notably French and English, in partnership with the French Institute of Casablanca and Dar America," indicates a press release from the Ali Zaoua Foundation. Several means will be implemented so that this centre can allow the young talents of Sidi Moumen to flourish. Indeed, several training and discovery spaces are set up there. A space for learning, discovery and creation is also made available to these young people.

The cultural centre "Les Étoiles de Sidi Moumen" is thus open to all young people in the neighbourhood (from the youngest to pre-adults) who wish to benefit from classes in different artistic disciplines. In addition to its vocation as a place of initiation and training in the arts and stage professions, this centre will also be open to neighbourhood associations to allow them to carry out their work in a more effective and optimal manner, and to weave friendly ties between all the associative actors of the neighbourhood and the Ali Zaoua Foundation.

Also, with a view to opening up and de-enclaving the Sidi Moumen neighbourhood and connecting it to the rest of the metropolis, reports the same source, the new cultural centre will also regularly welcome Moroccan and international artists, troupes and companies for shows, performances and screenings open to the inhabitants of the neighbourhood and Casablancans in general, through a programme that the Ali Zaoua Foundation has put in place with the support of its cultural partners.

M. M. trainee journalist"Reconciliation" objective

Sidi Moumen has been talked about a lot since the attacks of 16 May 2003. Since that time, the neighbourhood has somewhat "erased" itself from the geographical map of Casablanca. Faced with this sad reality, the Ali Zaoua Foundation was created to allow for a reconciliation between Sidi Moumen and the rest of the metropolis. Indeed, created in February 2009, the Foundation was born from an observation: that of a need for reconnection between the inhabitants of the Sidi Moumen neighbourhood and the rest of the city of Casablanca. Convinced that this reconnection will pass through a cultural and artistic link, the founders of the association had the ambition to initiate a real project that takes root in Sidi Moumen and that allows the young people of the neighbourhood to benefit from a space of expression, on the one hand, and to invite Casablancans to reconcile with this part of their city, on the other hand.