The Cultural Centre of Tetouan, under the Ministry of Culture, is offering to view, until 20 September, an exceptional exhibition bringing together paintings, maps, books and rare documents around the Tetouan War (1859-1860).
This exhibition, organised by the Sidi M’chich Alami Foundation in collaboration with the Tittaouen Asmir association and the Cultural Centre of Tetouan, was inaugurated by Dr Mustapha Mechiche Alami, in the presence of several personalities from the city of Tetouan, the famous artist Ahmed Benyessef and a large public who came to appreciate unpublished paintings. These were created by the Italian artist Milly Corica who, after several meetings with the president of the Sidi M’chich Alami Foundation, was able to represent scenes of battles that took place in Tetouan and its regions. A wish that Dr M'chich Alami sees fulfilled through these frescoes that tell many stories. The latter had already begun investigative work several years ago by procuring everything related to this war, including a painting dating from 1863 signed by Fernando de la Torré, maps, ancient documents and books in Arabic and Spanish and also war plans that he was able to obtain from the Spanish Ministry of Defence. Then, by soliciting qualified painters to translate this history into painting.
"It is an approach that calls upon painting to write the history of Morocco. These are battles that highlight the struggle of Moroccans against occupation. The idea is to make our history known to both Moroccans and tourists who come to visit our country. Knowing that painting is the simplest way to reach everyone, even an illiterate person who does not know how to read, or someone who does not know our language and who can, through the image, learn and know more about this era of our history. It is a project that can lead to many opportunities for our artists. Especially since there are not many painters who have worked on these subjects. We find many paintings of historical sites and monuments of Morocco. But not scenes in motion, like battles," stresses Dr Mustapha M'chich Alami. His goal is to present this exhibition in several cities of the Kingdom (of which the next stage will be the city of Fez from 27 September), in order to help young generations who are unaware of it discover our history. It must also be said that this new experience requires a lot of research and investigation before embarking on the history of any era.
"We must be very vigilant regarding costumes, colours and morphologies. It is a whole historian's job, because this canvas becomes a very important document and a reference for the era. And here, I would like to congratulate Dr M'chich who is behind this very commendable initiative for the safeguarding of our memory," testifies the painter Ahmed Benyessef.
For this exhibition on the Tetouan War, the bet was won by the artist Milly Corica who did delicate and meticulous work. "I started by making sketches to study the finest details, such as the position of the horse and the knight, the morphology of the faces... to be closer to reality and be able to paint a real battle. Then, it is after long reflection that I start directly on the final painting where other ideas come to enrich it, while respecting the historical data," explains the Italian Milly Corica.
This project combining art and history constitutes, in fact, a very positive approach, knowing that the canvas is a very effective means of expression that allows information to be conveyed more easily and also contributes to the preservation of the historical memory of our country.
