Well, we did it. The "we" is many: the three artists – American, Moroccan, French (see photo below) – who donated their works depicting our historic building to the Legation for its permanent collection. The many people – expats, Moroccans, art galleries, hotels, restaurants, and artists – who donated raffle (known as "tombola" here) prizes … Read more Paint the Legation: Tangier Comes Through
Peindre la Légation It all started with this observation: the art collection at the Legation Museum barely had any images of the Legation building itself. The Tangier American Legation, given to the United States by Morocco's Sultan Moulay Slimane in 1821. America's oldest diplomatic building. It deserves to be the subject of Moroccan, American, and … Read more Paint the Legation
Recently I had to explain how it was that, despite Morocco's generally sunny, beneficent climate, we had to worry about such things as heavy rains, humidity, and mold here in Tangier. Location, location, location – we're on the Strait of Gibraltar, and there's a lot of water in several directions. So it's no surprise that … Read more Restoration, Renovation, Preservation: Keeping the Legation Whole
Happy International Museum Day. TALIM – the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies – used to have museum in its name: TALM – the Tangier American Legation Museum. Signs on our street reflect that history, and it is true that people from Tangier and tourists visiting the city know us best as a museum. … Read more TALIM – We Are Also a Museum
This post has no purpose other than showing pretty pictures. The first, thanks to a visit to the Legation garden by Europa Nostra. Europa Nostra is a Netherlands – based group dedicated to the preservation of historic buildings. As you can see in the background, we have plenty of restoration work to do at our … Read more Cherry Blossoms and Clivia, Washington and Tangier
Have I become accustomed to living in historic landmarks? En route to a week in Washington for meetings, I have decided to set up shop at DACOR Bacon House, one of Foggy Bottom's few remaining historic homes, now the home of DACOR, which organizes a lively calendar of activities for foreign affairs professionals. I've stayed … Read more Open for Business, In Tangier and Washington
People often ask "what is a legation?" So I provide the above photo of a page from a dictionary that was published when countries still had legations. And ministers, the people (well, at the time, the men) who headed them. Wikipedia has a limited or stub page on legations. In Tangier, the American Legation and … Read more Le-ga’tion, Defined
Okay, folks, I think we have solved the mystery of the American flag carpet, or at least placed it in time. First, the link to our plea to readers for photo interpretation of this picture: Now, analysis provided by Mark Smith, architect and former Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco (and former resident of the American … Read more History Detected, Flag Restored
Some people, when confronted with terms like "branding" and "logo" think crass commercialism. Well, there is an aspect of that in what I am trying to accomplish: I would like the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies to better "sell" its "products." Here they are: – Only US National Historic Landmark outside the United … Read more Rebranding TALIM Starts With Its Logo
Don't worry: Teddy Roosevelt and his gunboat diplomacy have not made a reappearance on the Strait of Gibraltar. Whatever happens down the coast in Libya, the USS Olympia of the Great White Fleet (image: ModelShipMaster.com) is safely moored in its Philadelphia museum home. Here in Tangier, we don't expect any battleship-assisted hostage rescue attempts à … Read more The Great White Fleet Returns to Tangier
