Moroccan Dreams

The Western myth of Morocco as part of the 'Muslim Orient' – so close in proximity to Christian Europe – long predates its colonial transformation. Yet the relatively brief French Protectorate in Morocco, entirely within the twentieth century, represents a coalescing of mythologies of the Orient, spatial forms of colonial power, and theories of planning that, alongside ever-faster modes of travel, designed cities for consumption of oncoming tourists. Reflecting from contemporary Morocco as an emerging powerhouse of focused development for tourism, this project travels through the mosaic of Moroccan cities and regions to explore how these contemporary visions reflect a layered trajectory of pre-colonial mythologies, colonial structuring, and current modes of tourist consumption in the twenty-first century dream of Morocco.