Podcast: Roots and Traces of Contemporary Cultural Life in Tangier

By: George Bajalia and Aida Alami In this discussion at Youmein 2021: Roots and Traces, anthropologist George Bajalia and journalist Aida Alami explore the roots and traces of contemporary cultural life in Tangier, especially as they relate to northern Morocco’s border regions.  From questions of diversity and difference to the roots of present debates around … Read more Podcast: Roots and Traces of Contemporary Cultural Life in Tangier


Annual Seminar to Mark the Bicentennial of the Legation, April 7-8

In celebration of the bicentennial of the Tangier American Legation and the long friendship between the United States and Morocco that it represents, this year’s annual TALIM April Seminar has the theme of “The Tangier American Legation’s First 200 years: Where We’ve Been and What Might Be Next?” Due to travel and assembly restrictions imposed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s seminar will be virtual, held in Zoom and broadcast live on Facebook.


Live at the Legation: 2017 Ramadan Nights Concert with Redouan Hasnaoui

We are delighted to introduce our “Live at the Legation” podcast series.  On Friday, June 9 at 22h, we revived a  tradition of  Ramadan concerts here at the Legation by hosting the young Tangerine singer-songwriter Redouane Hasnaoui, where he sang about Tangier, the environment, motherhood, and Sufi and romantic poetry. And of course, we recorded it … Read more Live at the Legation: 2017 Ramadan Nights Concert with Redouan Hasnaoui


Legation Christmas Market, 2016

Carols in the ballroom. Click to watch.

We’d like to thank all of those involved in making our annual Christmas Market such a success.   Of  the many visitors we welcomed on December 10, we were perhaps most pleased that several dozens of  children from our Ben Idder neighborhood  in Tangier’s Old Medina stopped by to join us for face painting, crafts workshops and other fun!

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Live Room Halloween at the Legation

We were pleased to host Mok’s Live Room Halloween at the Legation on October 29, and to welcome nearly 300 guests of all ages, along with performers from Tangier and Tetouan for this special (and spooky!) evening. Thanks to the Tangier American Language Center for sponsoring Live Room Halloween and special thanks to Ayoub Lahlouh … Read more Live Room Halloween at the Legation


Dance: Hassan Bouchountouf at the Legation

We were pleased to welcome Hassan Bouchountouf to the Legation on September 6, where his performance opened the 3-day Haraka Dance Festival. Thanks to the brilliant Othman Sellami and his team for conceptualizing and organizing Tangier’s first contemporary dance festival and to Ayoub Lahlouh for this short film featuring highlights of Hassan’s exciting performance. –September … Read more Dance: Hassan Bouchountouf at the Legation


Ending Our 40th On A High Note

On Saturday April 9th, just as our 40th anniversary festivities were coming to a close, we had the opportunity to meet over 40 returned Moroccan alumni of US exchange programs. These professionals are at all stages of their careers, some are students, some teach and many others work in the private sector or in other areas of Moroccan civil society. They were involved in a variety of projects while in the U.S. and they shared with us some of their aspirations for the future.

Participants introducing themselves.
Participants introducing themselves.

Our day began with professor Dale Eickelman of Dartmouth College, who gave a talk titled “New Directions: The Tangier American Legation since 1976”. He spoke about TALIM’s transformation from its inception as a non-profit organization to its work today. The Legation and TALIM are opening up to more community involvement through events and programs. Professor Eickelman unveiled our latest initiative during his talk. The “Legation Scholars” program, developed by TALIM and local partners, aims to provide high school students from the Old Medina of Tangier with English language training and baccalaureate support so that they may pursue higher-level studies in the STEM fields. Many of the Moroccan U.S. alumni present at the talk expressed interest in becoming involved in these kinds of programs, through mentorships and other types of collaboration.  

Read moreEnding Our 40th On A High Note


Upcoming Events at TALIM

Tuesday, February 23 at Thursday, at 4:00 p.m.: Talk by Vincent Hoyer : “La Vie Passionnante de l’Astronome Galileo Galilei”

Vincent Hoyer, a retired teacher from Tangier’s Ecole Berchet, will speak in French about the astronomer Galileo. Tanger Accueil is sponsoring M. Hoyer’s lecture.

garywardandbandFebruary 25th at 7:30 p.m.: Gary Ward Band Concert: A History of Popular Music in the UK and the US.

Starting pre-20th century, folk songs were regularly sung all over the US and UK. These songs were adapted in many ways to fit the music of other genres which were emerging around the turn of the 20th Century, eg. jazz, blues, gospel, followed by the big bands of the 20s-40s, and leading into rhythm and blues, rock and roll. This was followed by the mass explosion of new musical genres which emerged in the 1960s right through to the current day. The show will explore each musical genre through the decades using electric guitar, electric bass and a drum set. The Tangier American Language Center is sponsoring the concert. Free admission

IMG_6963Tuesday, March 1, 11 a.m. (note time change from previous announcement): Lecture and Book Signing by Thione Niang.

Read moreUpcoming Events at TALIM


Recently in Tangier – Message from the Director

Dear TALIM Board Members, Fellows and Friends

December 12 - Holiday market benefitting Tangier nonprofits
The Legation’s Christmas Tree is live and is the same as the one used last year

On behalf of all of us in Tangier, I would like to dispense a bit with protocol and write all of you directly to wish all of your and your families a very happy holiday season. This year the holiday stars have aligned, with Hanukkah, Christmas and the Prophet Mohammed’s birthday all falling in December. Here are two photos of a yesterday’s Hanukkah celebration in Tangier at the former Jewish Casino, and of our own Marché de Noël that we hosted Saturday at the Legation along with 14 other Tangier NGO’s and charitable organizations.

We are extremely grateful for your friendship and for your support to the Legation, both for your generous contributions and especially for the time that so many of you give to help us. We hope to welcome many of you back to Tangier next April for our 40th anniversary celebrations.

Read moreRecently in Tangier – Message from the Director