Fes Forum

15 and 16 June 2019, Prefecture Hall, Batha

Fes at the confluence of cultures

FES FORUM ARGUMENT

Part of the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music, the Fes Forum takes place on 15 and 16 June 2019.

The main theme of the 25^th edition of the festival, Fes at the confluence of cultures, pays tribute to culture, music and the city of Fes that has been hosting this magnificent event for a quarter of a century.

The confluence of cultures that is highlighted by the Fes Festival is our source of inspiration.

This is the essence allowing us to debate and to listen to eminent men and women who, through their ideas and creativity, support this culture of peace, these values of respect and recognition of all that informs the virtuous circle of spirituality.

In short, all that gives meaning to knowledge and that validates the humanist conscience is found in this theme.

Culture wants ‘no fire, no war, no blood’, to paraphrase a popular singer. It traces and retraces the same long, difficult path through thousands of years of trade, wars, population migration and ideas and the mixture of these that makes everything  in us the result of the common heritage of mankind.

All these cultures, specific and exceptional as they are, are small shoots of this shared capital, fragile and precious.

Beyond such forms, functionalities and typologies of cultures, all participate in this necessary gestation of our humanity in societies connected to each other through their borrowing, their proximity, conflicts and differences.

There is no slogan or mascot that boasts of it. It is a global imperative for the good of all; being convinced that we are that culture, opens sustainable, perennial gateways for all societies to use in their own interests according to their own rhythm and expression.

While beliefs, languages, history, ways of life and customs might be different, cultures are nonetheless inexhaustible sources of wisdom, peace and the potential of prosperity.

To explore some of the main outlines of this opportunity that cultures give to humanity, the Fes Forum is centred around three axes:

1. Knowledge before judgement: the idea before the opinion
2. The necessary fundamentals of dialogue between cultures
3. Lifestyles in traditional cities (medinas and others) and the underlying spiritual value of respect.

Driss Khrouz