We hope you enjoy this wonderful feature article in this month’s edition of Saudi ARAMCO World about the Legation and especially our Arabic Literacy Program for women in the Old Medina of Tangier. Please share it with your friends and family who love Tangier and the American Legation. Click on the image or link above … Read more Saudi ARAMCO World on the Legation’s Literacy Program
Tanger Evénements Ouvert au Public Our first event open to the public will be at the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies (TALIM), on August 26th at 12pm! Please join us for a roundtable panel and discussion on the themes of Al Barzakh and Les Limbes, moderated by George Bajalia (Artistic Director, Borderline Theater … Read more Invitation to Youmein Festival
Sunday mornings at the Legation are usually very quiet, much like the sleepy streets of Tangier. This Sunday, however, we were honored by a special visit from Idaho Senator James E. Risch and his family. Ambassador Dwight Bush came from Rabat to meet the Risch’s and welcome them on their first visit to Morocco. The family decided to visit Tangier while on vacation in southern Spain. Vicky Risch, Senator Risch’s wife, felt drawn to the idea of visiting the Legation: “I read about the museum before coming to Spain and I just knew that I had to see it.”
On Thursday TALIM held a graduation ceremony and celebration for the women in the Women’s Program that began in 1994. Seventeen certificates were awarded for completion of the Arabic literacy class, 28 for sewing, and 14 for the cooking program, after which the women and their children were entertained by students in the Darna Theater Program.
New images have been added to TALIM’s Glass Negatives Collection on Archnet. Currently there are approximately 250 images in the collection, currently representing a selection from five of the eighteen boxes in the full collection. New images are added every week as they are cataloged, and scanning resumes this summer.
Saturday, April 4 at 7:30pm in the Legation en français باللغه العربيه Mediating between light and dark, between composition and improvisation, a cycle of Josephine Foster’s original music interspersed with adapted art songs will be played amongst the American Legation Museum. Patterns from the music and location are expanded through dance, becoming structural improvisations and … Read more THERE ARE EYES ABOVE : A free musical / dance performance by Josephine Foster Ensemble
Grecia, Dunya and Majda inside the rare books cage
When we started sifting through our collection to cull our rare books from the regular shelves and put them into their new home in “the cage” we never imagined we would find books dating from 1572, or even a parchment signed by King Philip II of Spain (Philip I of Portugal). In fact, we started out by pulling books dating from 1920 and earlier and soon found that our cage was overflowing, so that we had to cut back to books printed before 1911. Previously, these books were intermingled with our regular collection, which focuses mainly on Morocco, but it was decided that these books required special protection, and thus the cage, a small room with an iron gate, was born. Our rare books cover a breadth of topics, from early accounts of European exploration of the region, to government treatises, geographical studies, books signed by illustrious figures (including a book belonging to former Prime Minister of Spain Antonio Cánovas del Castillo). We even have copies of an 1889 edition of Washington Irving’s The Life of Mahomet and a first edition of Mark Twain’s The Innocents Abroad.
Below are the events happening this month at the Legation. If you are in the area, we hope to see you there.
Monday, March 9, 7 p.m. Movie Night “The Furies,” starring Barbara Stanwyck, Walter Huston.
Thursday, March 12, 4 p.m. “Languages in the Maghrib,” Lecture by American anthropologist and author Dr. Kenneth Brown. In partnership with the Tangier American Language Center.
Section II, “Architectural and Historical Context and Significance” of the of the Historic Structure Report on the American Legation in Tangier, Morocco is now available on Archnet. You can find it by going to the the page for TALIM and selecting the link above the description labeled “Publication.”
This section of the report explains the historical and architectural significance of the structure, beginning with a general diplomatic history of Tangier. It then provides a functional and architectural history of the Legation building, including the modifications to the building, starting when the United States and Morocco first began negotiations, through the acquisition of Legation in 1821, damage to the property during bombardments of Tangier, expansions by the consul in the 1920s, the role of the Legation during World War II, and finally the conversion into a museum in 1975-1976. Finally it ends with an assessment of the current condition of the property. It is illustrated with historic images and plans.
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