Contesting the Public Space: Artistic Networks, Cultural Movements & Literary Icons in North Africa

The North African public space is contested. While the states attempt to monopolize public space, civil society fights against these statal, hegemonic tendencies. Art, cultural movements and literature are at the forefront of this civil society that works tirelessly to expand ordinary North Africans’ access to their public arena. This lecture will show how art, literature and cultural action form a whole in the strive to establish democracy and civic-oriented polities in the Maghreb through the contestation of the public space.

Driss Ksikes is a Rabat-based Moroccan fiction and nonfiction writer, playwright, and editor. Since 2007, he has been director of Economia, HEM research center. As a non-fiction writer, he was awarded Grand Atlas prize in 2015 for his book, Le métier d’intellectuel, which he co-authored with Fadma Aït Mous. He is the author of numerous plays (IL/Houwa, 180 degrés, Don’t hurry up in burying, Big Brother, The Match) and novels, including Ma boîte noire (2006), L’homme descend du silence (2014), Au Détroit d’Averroes (2017).

More Information