The back story
From Majorelle blue to the festival: Marrakech’s arts
The Musée Yves Saint Laurent and the Berber museum at Majorelle, MACAAL’s African art, the photographs of the Maison de la Photographie, Dar el Bacha’s exhibitions, the music of Mouassine and the Marrakech International Film Festival.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Viault · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsFor a century artists have come to Marrakech for the light, and the city has answered with museums. In the north-west, the Musée Yves Saint Laurent and the Pierre Bergé Museum of Berber Arts share a ticket with the Jardin Majorelle. In the medina, the Fondation Nationale des Musées runs Dar el Bacha and Dar Si Saïd; the Maison de la Photographie holds albumen prints from 1870; and the Musée de Mouassine fills its upper room with the music of the medina. Each November the Marrakech International Film Festival brings the cinema world to the city.
The museums
The Jardin Majorelle’s own site is the only one that sells tickets for the garden, the Pierre Bergé Museum of Berber Arts and the Musée Yves Saint Laurent. Dar el Bacha, a seigneurial house built in 1910, is now the Musée des Confluences, showing “Enki Bilal: l’Exposition” from 15 October 2026; Dar Si Saïd, a palatial house of the late nineteenth century, is the national museum of weaving and carpets (fnm.ma).
Photographs and contemporary art
The Maison de la Photographie, open since 2009, shows the history of photography in Morocco from albumen prints of 1870 to autochromes and silver prints. MACAAL, the Museum of Contemporary African Art Al Maaden, shows “Seven Contours, One Collection” until 8 January 2027; the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair has come to Marrakech since February 2018.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © C messier · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsMusic and film
The Musée de Mouassine holds concerts of the medina’s traditional music on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings in its douiria. The 23rd Marrakech International Film Festival runs from 20 to 28 November 2026, with Marion Cotillard as president of the jury (marrakech-festival.com).
Buy Majorelle and YSL museum tickets only on the official site: tickets from elsewhere will not admit you.
Our advice: give Majorelle an early morning slot and the museums of the medina the afternoon, when the lanes are shaded.
Why it's on our list
- The museums
- Photographs and contemporary art
- Music and film
Location
The map comes from Google Maps, which sets its own cookies once it loads.
More in depth
The back storyWild Marrakech: Storks, Bulbuls, Macaques and the Eagles of the AtlasWhite storks nesting on the walls of El Badi, bulbuls in the gardens, Barbary macaques at the Ouzoud falls, and eagles, foxes and jackals in Toubkal National Park: the wild side of Marrakech.
The back storyBuying in Marrakech: riads, villas and the notaryA foreigner can buy registered, non-agricultural property within a town in Morocco; the title deed, the notary and a payment through the bank are what make it yours. What to know before you fall for a riad.
The back storyGetting around Marrakech: on foot, by taxi, train and coachMarrakech Menara Airport, the petits taxis, the walk through the medina, ONCF trains north and the coaches to the coast: how to move through Marrakech.