Tunisia Blocks Moroccan Singer from Dhikra Tribute Concert, Citing Foreign Artist Rule

Asmae Lazrak unwanted in Tunisia! The Music and Dance Directorate of the Tunisian Ministry of Culture has canceled the participation of Moroccan singer Asmae Lazrak in the concert entitled "Remember Dhikra" scheduled for Thursday in Tunis, in tribute to the late Dhikra via hologram technology, on the pretext that she is a foreign artist. In a letter addressed to the organizer of the concert, it explains that it has implemented the provisions of Decree No. 2197 of July 20, 2009 concerning the creation of an advisory commission for shows animated by foreigners, defining its competences, its composition, its working methods, the procedures followed and the specifications for the exercise of the activity of intermediary in the organization of concerts or their management.

Asmae Lazrak expressed her surprise at the cancellation of her participation in this concert and the decision to exclude her because she is a foreigner after having been scheduled and announced. "I apologize to the Tunisian public, as well as to the Moroccan and Arab community in Tunisia, for my absence from this concert for reasons beyond my control, and by decision of the Tunisian Ministry of Culture to prohibit me from participating in the tribute concert to the late Dhikra, the reason being that I am Moroccan, therefore a foreigner," she writes in a post on Instagram, before calling on the Moroccan Ministry of Culture. "What is the opinion of the Ministry of Culture and the artistic unions in Morocco?" asks the Moroccan singer. "The Tunisian Ministry of Culture is banning me from singing at the Dhikra tribute concert on the pretext that I am a foreigner."

On the web, several Moroccan singers have expressed their solidarity with her. They have also opened the debate on the marginalization they suffer in their own country, blaming the officials of the cultural sector for their preference for foreign singers in the major festivals to the detriment of local artists who live in difficult conditions with few outlets. "Unbalanced scales, the programming of festivals in Morocco is only complete by including Arab and foreign artists, to the point that when I saw the participants in this year’s festival, with some names whose brilliance has faded in the artistic field and who are even approaching retirement, I thought the situation resembled a recycling of garbage. On the other hand, Moroccan artists do not benefit from festivals, neither inside Morocco nor outside, on the pretext that they are foreigners," fumes the Moroccan singer Sanaa Marhati in a post on Instagram.