THE HIDDEN MUSEUM

Abstract

Fes is an old city of organic communities with intimate, walk- up buildings and rich street life. The effects of the current economical climate become increasingly evident in the speed of production as well as the erasure of old traditional buildings. However under all these glittery facade, traditional artisanal crafts struggle to survive. The artisans who are responsible for the beauty of the city face the danger of extinction. Having the site as one of the only 2 artisanal quarter, this is the main issue I am targeting on: In the attempt of the government trying to package the old city of Fez into a walk-in ‘museum city’ - ‘cheap, warm, and steeped in tradition’, the result has largely left the city with a shift from the joy of traditional art making to the pressure of art as a form of identity-forming in Fez. As a criticism to the current objective from the government in turning the medina into a ‘museum’ like touristic spot, which revolves around demolition and re-siting, and where artisans are hidden/tugged away or simply treated as ‘exhibition pieces’. The project enables a patchwork of creative expression, breaking from conventional 'landmark' art galleries, seen all too often throughout Morocco and beyond. To do this, it infiltrates an archetypal urban form but one that few people experience: the hidden artisans. The site is seen as an alternative museum, creating a series of micro spaces which reveal the various hidden layers of the city, these spaces are created and inserted to “curate” the examples of “hidden narratives” throughout the city.